


Those Who Are Lost

by LilLostLady



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Beta Wanted, Child Abuse, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fairies, Family Drama, Family Issues, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgotten Isle Kids, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Heroes to Villains, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Isle of the Lost (Disney), Magic, Not Beta Read, Pirates, Puppy Love, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, Villains, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:30:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilLostLady/pseuds/LilLostLady
Summary: A plan was set into motion years earlier than in the original when Maleficent decided that Fairy Godmother's daughter was the key to bringing down the barrier around the Isle. Now Jane must grow up on the Isle of the Lost with the VKs and either learn to use her magic to do as Maleficent commands or die trying. Jane centric. Eventually Jane/Carlos with possible side pairings.





	1. The Isle of the Lost: Kidnapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants.
> 
> I'm sure you all remember how everyone and their mother was after Fairy Godmother's wand, well in the sequel Uma demands the wand for the release of Ben. Now correct me if I'm wrong but don't magical things stop working once they're within the barrier? So, shouldn't Fairy Godmother's wand not work inside the barrier? Either this seems like a plot hole or no one really thought the whole stealing the wand and bringing it to the Isle thing through in the second movie. What if however, the wand being Fairy Godmother's wand and therefore her magic was the exception to the rule then wouldn't it be safe to assume that if Jane could use magic that she too would be able to use her unique magic within the barrier? Okay, this is all speculation but in this story, that's what I'm going with, Jane's would-be magic would be able to work within the barrier.
> 
> -

Auradon was beautiful just like always and just like always a certain Fairy Godmother was busy with her Headmistress duties, it was normal during this time of year to only see her precious young daughter Jane for a couple of hours a day. First in the morning for breakfast the most important meal of the day and then for dinner in the evening to ask about her daughter's day. She made the most of these times as they were moments held dear for the both of them so no matter how tired she was at the end of the day she was always there for dinner and to tuck in her daughter and wish her pleasant dreams.

During her time at Auradon prep, little Jane was either with Fairy Godmother's good friend Cinderella and her husband Philp and their young son Chad or with her father, usually the former because unfortunately, Jane's father was not the most responsible adult.

One of the main reasons that Jane's parents' marriage had failed but Jane was too young at the time to really understand it.

Today is where our story truly begins, Cinderella and her husband are unavailable to watch little Jane and so Fairy Godmother had no other option than to drop her seven-year-old off with the girl's father. After double and triple checking that her ex-husband knew and understood everything that came with looking after the child in his care she went to work like every day, after all, it wasn't like he hadn't watched her for a day before. As worried as she was Fairy Godmother was sure everything would be fine.

"Daddy?" Little Jane called for her father, but he was nowhere in sight, her dad had taken her out shopping since there wasn't much for the two of them to do at his house. It had started out well enough with him buying her a new stuffed animal, a dog she decided to name Mr. Barks-a-lot, they had some lunch shortly after that. Now though the mall that wasn't overly crowd before seemed to have a lot more people than it had earlier, "Daddy, where are you?" she called out into the crowed area, no one looked her way or stopped to help her, she wandered farther away from where she had previously been still calling out for her dad when suddenly she bumped into a person.

She clutched her stuffed dog tightly and with tear filled eyes looked up at the person before her, "Hello there your name's Jane isn't it?"

The little girl was wary of this stranger knowing her name but answered because it was the polite thing to do and her mother said you should always be polite, "...Yes."

"Your daddy's looking for you, let me take you to him." The stranger held out his hand for the tiny brunette to take.

Another thing her mom had always told her was not to go anywhere with strangers no matter what they said, but she still figured that she needed to be polite about it.

"...That's okay you can just tell him I'm right here." The stranger let his hand fall back to his side.

"You're a smart girl but you see I can't just leave you here all alone while I bring him to you, that would be irresponsible of me."

It sounded reasonable to the little girl but still, if she went with him then her mom might get mad.

"You want to see your dad, as soon as possible don't you?" The stranger calmly asked.

She didn't want to be alone anymore so, "...Yes." But what she really wanted was her mom, but mommy was busy and so daddy would have to do.

"Good then just take my hand and you'll see him in no time." Once again, he held out his hand to her, she didn't want to take his hand she tightened her hold on Mr. Barks-a-lot for a second as if to draw some form of comfort from the stuffed animal.

He waited patiently, she looked around and nobody was paying them any mind. She didn't know why she was hesitating so much he was trying to help her when no one else had. It wouldn't be right to follow him, her mom said so but if she didn't wouldn't it be rude and if she didn't would she ever find her daddy or see mommy again?

"...Okay." He smiled at her response, she let one hand let go of her stuffed animal and put it into his hand. He gripped her hand tightly, suddenly she was really scared and then she and the stranger were both gone. All that was left behind was a stuffed dog lying in the middle of the shopping mall.

-

Two hours, twenty-four minutes, and eighteen seconds ago she was told the worse news of her life. Her daughter was missing, she thought that nothing could ever sound as horrible as those words until just over an hour earlier, magic was found at the scene of her daughter's disappearance. It was simple magic for most who were able to use magic could pull it off if they so choose to, it was a spell to make one go by unnoticed.

They used it to make themselves all but invisible, themselves and her daughter as well. They had rounded up everyone they could that had been at the mall around the time in question, but no one had seen her, the few who did recall her only did so when she was still with her father.

Her ears were still ringing from the words that her daughter had been taken. Nothing else seemed to matter after those words had been spoken, the fairy isn't certain that she wasn't in shock for she had never been before and couldn't tell if that was what she was experiencing at this moment.

Sound wasn't reaching her not really, there was some sort of white noise like a filter that the words were trying to get through, but they weren't quite making it. So, she didn't hear the King Beast's suggestion at first. "They will likely get in touch to demand an exchange to obtain the wand shortly." The surrounding authorities nodded their heads it was a likely motive for the kidnapping even if it had been years since the last attempted theft of the wand.

They had made them think that everyone who had desired it had found their way onto the Isle, it appears to not be the case. Fairy God Mother's hearing came back tenfold at the mention of her wand, how could this be that someone would want to trade her daughter for her wand, a part of her knew that she couldn't make that trade the damage her wand could do it the wrong hands was immense but the part of her that was a mother said it didn't matter that she'd give them whatever they wanted as long as she got her daughter back safe and sound.

Queen Belle puts her hand on the fairy's shoulder gaining her attention, she has a pained smile on her face.

"I know this is hard for you," there's a silent we're here for you in there but Fairy God Mother can't bring herself to appreciate it. "but you need to know that we'll do everything that we can."

King Beast nods, "Yes we'll get her back and they won't get their hands on the wand either."

The fairy nods though right at this second, she couldn't care less about the wand, the hand on her shoulder was of no comfort, neither was the words, she needed her daughter, her hands tightened at the thought and felt the softness of the stuffed animal she'd yet to let go of.

It was the stuffed dog that was left behind, the last thing her daughter had held onto. Her Jane had always wanted a dog but being the sensible parent that she was knew that it was too much of a reasonability at this age, however, if her little girl came back to her she'd get her one in a heartbeat even if she was left to care for it until Jane got older. Right now, the thought that was going through her mind was a dark one indeed, would her daughter ever get the chance to have the dog that she had wanted?

She wished she could say that the stuffed toy brought her some relief but nothing short of her daughter safe in her arms could accomplish that, still it was all she had right now, so she squeezed it tighter to her chest as if to try and bring forth the comfort that it could not give her.

The stuffed dog would soon have more tear stains than that of anything else the fairy had cried on earlier this day but it still would bring her no comfort.

-

The next thing Jane knew was she was waking up and it was uncomfortable like she was sleeping on the ground and it smelled bad too unlike anything she'd smelled before. It didn't surprise her to find that she was in fact on the ground or that the smell was coming from the food next to her that looked like it should be in the trash because it'd gone bad.

She was about to sit up when she heard voices, so she quickly closed her eyes to pretend that she was still asleep as she listened to what they were saying, "-and you're sure she's the one, I don't sense anything magical about the brat?"

Magical? Like her mom's wand, she never saw it, but it was supposed to be able to do things like turning a pumpkin into a carriage, she didn't know why her mom would do that because it sounded silly, but it was still fun to imagine.

She hears the voice from before letting out a frustrated sound and the little girl realizes that she's missing the conversation, so she does something her mom told her was wrong and continues to ease drop, all the while trying to not think about how mad her mom would be with her.

"-No matter if she is the Fairy Godmother's brat I'll know soon enough."

"What if she didn't inherit any of her mother's power?" A familiar voice said it took Jane a moment to realize that it was the stranger's voice from the mall.

"She is half fairy she has the power even if she doesn't know how to use it, by the time I'm through with her she'll not only know how to use her magic, but she'll do as I say and then this god forsaken barrier that's kept us all prisoners will finally fall!"

She was scared, it sounded like they wanted to make her use magic, she didn't have any though. What would they do to her when they found out and what is the barrier she mentioned? The only barrier that she knows of is the one to keep the bad guys on the island, she couldn't mean to break that barrier, though right?

Why would anyone want to free the villains? Her mom had said that they needed to stay on the island in a permanent timeout because they w-

"Looks like someone's playing possum," A hand weaves into her hair and pulls her up, she lets out a startled and slightly pained yelp, "You need to learn to control your breathing better if you want someone to fall for your act, though even then you would not fool me, little girl, as I'm an expert when it comes to sleeping."

Jane whimpers and tries to tug her hair free from the grip the person before her has on it, "L-let go!" Tears start to stream down her face, "P-please l-let go."

"Oh, my dear girl you're gonna have to toughen up if you wish to survive on the Isle." That said the woman releases her with enough force to knock her onto her side causing her to cry out in pain. The little girl can feel the bruises that were just starting to form on her right arm and leg.

"Well then I should formally introduce myself, I am Maleficent," The girl on the ground knew that name, her mother had told her stories, Jane wanted her mommy, she was trembling, and tears streamed down her face constantly. She wanted to go home, please let this be a bad dream, "Welcome to the Isle of the Lost, I hope you enjoy your stay because you won't be leaving here until we do."

With that Maleficent let out a laugh, it wasn't a type of laugh that Jane had ever heard before and one that she never wanted to hear again. She knew that this was what you'd call an evil laugh, and she was scared.

While Maleficent laughed Jane cried.

-

A/N: Next chapter will be longer, I have a lot of ideas for this story. Jane will go through a lot on the Isle but I'm gonna make sure she'll still have her cute/sweet side like Carlos because I want to have some fluff between them in this at some point (sadly it will be a while) keep reading, the next chapter will have a familiar face!


	2. The Isle of the Lost: Run and Hide

Maleficent furious, "How could you have lost her!" She yelled at her underling, the dark fairy had thought the child was too petrified to move let alone run away, "I-I'll find her!" She glares at his quivering from, "You had better," He nods but doesn't move, "What are you waiting for an invitation, go and find her now!" Without further delay, the terrified lackey runs off to do just that, "When I get my hands on that brat-" Her frown turns into a wicked grin, "I'll make sure that she won't ever try and run from me again."

Turning quickly, she points to another minion nearby by, "You. Go find my daughter and bring her to me." The minion doesn't need to be told twice he's gone the second she finishes her demand.

"Umm..." The kidnapper and previous Auradonian starts but stops short of actually saying what is on his mind, "Well, now that you've spoken, continue what is it?" The malicious fairy questions.

"Why are you having Mal brought here?" The new underling asked nervously.

Maleficent didn't seem to notice his nerves and answered in an almost pleasant voice, "For a lesson of course."

"A lesson...?"

"Yes, a lesson. One that my daughter and our little guest will both remember for a long time, after all, what sort of mother would I be if I let the opportunity for such a learning experience to slip past me." The smile that graced her face was nothing short of menacing.

-

Jane was currently out of breath, she had pulled together all her courage to sneak away as soon as her kidnappers' backs were turned and once she was far enough away she had started to run and hasn't once stopped until now.

The small girl hadn't given much thought to the sights and sounds before as her own breaths and heartbeats sounded so loud in her ears and her eyes were only keeping watch for anyone following behind her but now that she's stopped running she can hear and see more clearly than before and she wishes that she couldn't.

The sounds were a mix of cries, shouts, and what she now knew to be evil laughter all around it was hard to make heads or tails of which way certain sounds were coming from, but Jane knew one thing she didn't want to get close to any of them be they frightened or evil.

The little girl was very much out of her depth and now she could feel eyes on her too, it made her paranoid, was it the kidnapper or was someone else watching her. Did it matter? Everyone here was bad, she was surrounded by nothing but mean people and if they caught her they'd probably yell at her or pull her hair and shove her like the evil fairy did.

Never having been treated so roughly before her childish mind didn't know that the dangers were much worse than that of receiving a few bruises but that was enough for her to know that she needed to keep away from others. So the girl bent down and started to crawl underneath things to avoid the attention of being out in the open, she could use her small body and the surrounding junk littered all around to her advantage so for now, that's what she'd do.

Hopefully, soon her mom would find out what happened and come to rescue her from this awful place, then she'd go home, and her mom would give her hugs and kisses and cookies and then she'd forget all about this awful place.

After finding a good spot with her back against a wall and decent view of the feet the walked by she sat and waited.

And waited and waited and waited and... it was taking a terribly long time for her mom to find her, would she be able to if she kept hiding?

The girl had to keep hidden though or else bad guys would get her, just then she was drawn out of her worries by a big pair of feet that came closer than most, she tensed up. After what felt like a lifetime but was in reality only a few seconds they left, and she relaxed a bit and once again she waited only this time the tears were back, but she sniffed a little and kept them from falling from her eyes.

A while later she startled awake not having even noticed that she'd fallen asleep in her hiding spot, it didn't take long to figure out what woke her. Standing in front of her having knocked away the junk she had crawled up under was a man and he tried to grab her but she scrambled away and under some more scattered odds and ends, they weren't giving up though and were following her and knocking away things as they gave chase and eventually she couldn't find anything else to hide under and had to take off running again.

The little girl was tired of running, in fact, she was just plain tired.

The sun was nearly set at this time, so it made running through the streets more dangerous, but the little brunette had no other option if she wished to flee her pursuer which she did want very much. Being much smaller than the grown villain that was chasing her was to her disadvantage this time because she wasn't hiding but running and he was faster, bigger and knew the area.

Just as he reached for her it appeared that luck, for the time being, was on her side because she tripped and fell making him miss her, but he was now within reaching distance, so she wouldn't get lucky a second time. At least that's what she thought until she heard the bad man scream followed by another voice, "Get up, come on!"

Not needing to be told twice she did as the voice directed and without a backward glance to see what had befallen her hunter she followed after the voice, "This way he'll never find you up here!"

It didn't take long to see a glimpse of the figure she was following, it was a kid! A kid like her, what was another kid doing on the Isle, did someone take them too?

Before when she was so focused on escape and staying hidden the little girl didn't take the time to survey her surroundings and see that the enemies that surrounded her were not all adults like she had assumed they were.

In fact, Jane was just about to learn something that she never knew, that villains had children too.

Jane could barely keep up, the kid who was a boy from what Jane could tell kept slowing down only long enough to shout things like, 'Keep up.' 'Hurry up.' 'You're such a slowpoke.' And 'No wonder he almost caught you.'

It was annoying her but through all her huffing at trying to keep up with him she couldn't waste air on a comeback, not that she could think of one, the blue-eyed girl was really tired. Just as she thought that she stopped running.

"Come on slowpoke just up this ladder now!" She looked up to where the voice that she now thought to be the most aggravating sound in the world was coming and slowly started to climb it all the while thinking that's what he'd said about the last ladder they went up.

This had to be the third one now, how much further would they need to go to be safe?

Speaking of some of the ladders didn't feel very safe and her mom would ground her if she found out about all the rooftops that Jane had run across today. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad though, being grounded because she was sure to be grounded you'd have to be on the ground first. Never had heights bothered her but looking down from rooftops might have changed that and it didn't help that the sun had set while she followed him.

It didn't really help that she had to jump or crawl across thin boards between a few of them either but after the one time, he called her a 'scaredy cat' she sucked it up.

Getting to the top she finally came face to face with the little boy who was grinning at her, the first thing the girl noticed was his shoulder-length hair was a dark color and that it wasn't sweaty and stuck to him like hers was and that he wasn't breathing as heavily as her, in fact, he didn't seem to be breathing hard at all.

She felt exhausted and knew she looked it too, her hair which was in pigtails before had come lose on the left side and was sticking to her face and neck. "Hey slowpoke you made it, congratulations!" He claps a bit and she feels like he's making fun of her, "I thought you'd get caught for sure."

"J-Jane." She states with what little breath that she's caught.

"What?" The other kid asked puzzled.

"My name's Jane..." She said steadily before she all but whispered the last part, "it's not slowpoke."

"Sure, slowpoke Jane then!" He laughs as she frowns not correcting him again, "I'm Jay."

The boy, Jay then bounces over to a pile of rags on the floor and falls back onto them, "So, what did you do to get the goon after ya," he sits up and suddenly pulls out a necklace from his jacket, "Did you steal something from him?" He grins at the necklace as he says this before checking another pocket and bringing out a small cup.

"No of course not, stealing is bad!"

He looks startled for a second before he begins to laugh, "Wow," he slaps his knee before jumping up, "you had me for a second, I thought you were serious."

"...I am, stealing is wrong."

"Of course it is, all the more reason to do it." He didn't sound like he was joking, Jane didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't. Her mom would know what to say but she wasn't here... yet.

"..."

"Besides if you really never stolen anything you'd probably have starved by now."

Just then her stomach growls making her blush, Jay just snickers, "Besides it's not like your parents would still feed you at your age."

This shocked Jane and made her forget her embarrassment, "Your parents don't?"

He scoffs, "Of course not, the only ones who are stilled getting babied like that at our age would have to be someone like the Evil Queen's daughter."

"The Evil Queen's... daughter?"

He gives her a funny look, "You don't know about her... that's like not knowing that Maleficent had a daughter," the color drains from Janes' face and she feels light-headed at the evil fairy she'd escaped from being someone's mom; Jay just continues on talking not having noticed, "everybody knows... even the sheltered kids at least I thought so, say who did you say your parents are?"

If she wasn't pale before she would be now because at this very moment she'd realized that if the Evil Queen and the Bad Fairy had daughters then that meant that the boy in front of her wasn't like her at all he was like those two other girls he's mentioned, he was a villain's kid and suddenly being the daughter of a good fairy particularly The Fairy Godmother wasn't such a good thing to be where she was at.

Lying was something that her mom had taught her not to do but she'd already broken so many rules, what was one more? It wasn't like she could tell the truth and not have it be a bad thing for her here either so in a way lying would still be good, right?

"I-I don't have any parents."

"Hmm..." He looked thoughtful and Jane tried not to look frightened as he thought, "They dead... lucky wish mine was. I'm Jafar's son by the way." The smile that graced his face as he'd spoken those words wasn't scary but the fact that he could have such a smile while saying them scared Jane more than any evil smile at this moment would have.

She didn't want to stay here, she needed her mom to come and rescue her.

For the time being though that wasn't possible, so she'd have to blend in and stay hidden until then. How to do that though, she wasn't like this boy and she never wanted to be and that was slowly becoming an even bigger fear than being caught.

What if the Isle of the Lost didn't only keep villains locked away... what if the Isle somehow made villains?

If her mom didn't find her fast enough would that happen to her?

Would she become a villain?

Jay let her stay there that night which was both a relief and a worry as she was terrified that any minute Jafar would show up.

However, that didn't last long because the little villain boy seemed to know what she was thinking and put those worries to rest.

"Dad doesn't come here too much climbing I think." He snorts.

"You don't live with him?" Jane asked perplexed.

"Sure. He's so mad right now though that'd he'd probably kill me if I came home tonight." The young villain stated with a wave of his hand like it was no big deal.

Jane was hoping that he was just exaggerating but she's not so sure... still he was a kid, so it had to be a joke. The blue-eyed girl decided not to think about it anymore and instead asked, "What... what did you do to make him so angry?"

"Nothing too exciting just made him lose some merch."

"Some merch?"

"I forgot you don't know anything. Dad owns a shop, sells odds and ends nothing fancy just whatever I can get my hands on mostly."

"You mean... stuff you steal?" Jane's voice came out just a tad judgmental.

Jay raised an eyebrow her way, "Where else would I get the goods from?"

"... I don't know." She had never given it much thought to how people on the Isle obtain things that they needed.

Just then her stomach makes itself known once more, she hadn't had anything since lunch and it was already way past dinner time for her.

"Is there anything to eat here?" Her blue eyes scan the room, it's mostly empty aside from the few candles, the lamp without a lampshade that gives a very faint glow and the rags on the floor that she's beginning to think are his bed and blankets combined

"Nope, should've tried to snag something on the way here." He says while examining the goods he stole more thoroughly.

"We were running though." It was obvious at least to her that there wasn't any way to do both things at the same time.

He continues on doing his thing and with a shrug declares, "That's the best time to take something... I have no idea how you've survived for so long."

Not answering the second half of his comment she focuses on the important thing, her hunger.

"...So, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to eat?" The young girl hoped that wasn't the case and there was something to eat hidden away around this hideout or maybe somewhere close by had food.

"Unless you wanna chance the streets in the dark which for you I wouldn't suggest it."

Shuddering at the mere thought of wandering around out there at night she decides to go without is her only real option. Looking at the dirty wooden floor beneath her feet she couldn't bring herself to leave, if he had asked her to she probably would have begged and cried until he caved, going back out there alone... she wouldn't do it willingly.

It had occurred to Jane then that she'd never before missed a meal, even if she was in trouble her mom wouldn't send her to bed without something on her tummy, she always said growing girls needed to eat and that missing a meal was bad for you.

The brunette was beginning to think that the whole island was bad for her.

The other kid sighed seeing the downtrodden look on the girl's face, really it was like she never had to go hungry before. There was something most definitely off about this kid to him but for the time being, it didn't really matter so he let it go.

He set his stolen goods down and faced her fully, "Let's get some sleep, if we go to bed early then we can grab something on the way out."

At this, she looks up at him, "...On the way out? I'm coming with you?"

"Of course, I helped you, didn't I? You should return the favor."

"What?" The little girl was perplexed.

"You didn't think I helped you for nothing right?" He asked as if it was obvious that his help would cost her.

He could tell almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth by the look on her face that's exactly what she had thought, really it was like this girl was from another world or something.

He shakes his head at the thought and decides to try a different tactic. She owed him, but he didn't want to hear her whine about it so maybe playing nice will work, he wasn't that well versed in it but no time like the present to get in some practice.

"I helped you out when you needed it." He pauses right here and hopes it gives the effect that he wants it to before finishing, "and now I need some help with something, it wouldn't be very nice to say no."

He was right, if he needed something that she could do then it would be only fair to help him with it.

"Okay, what do I need to do?"

"Don't worry about it, it won't be difficult anyone could do it, just takes two people to get the job done."

Well, that was reassuring, then she shouldn't mess it up but now the girl was curious about it.

Jay though just went around an extinguished the two candles which gave the room the most light before he turned off the lamp making the entire room become enveloped by darkness.

On normal nights she didn't like the dark, this wasn't a normal night. She was scared but she couldn't let him know that.

As he settled back down not only did she come to the conclusion that she'd have to sleep without a night light, but the brunette would have to sleep on the floor and not in a sleeping bag, like a sleepover way but on a hard-wooden floor without even a blanket to use.

"Jay... could I have a blanket?" She hoped there was enough of those rags to make another blanket.

"Only one sorry." He didn't sound very sorry.

"Okay... good night Jay..." She whispered with a slightly quivering voice.

Her mom wasn't there to tuck her in, she thought to herself as she laid down on the hard ground and closed her eyes hoping for sleep, it didn't come for a very long time.

-

The next morning, she awoke to Jay's poking, sitting up she noticed she felt very stiff and pretty sore as well.

"You bruise easily huh?" Jay points to the bruises on her right arm and leg that she'd been tossed on the day before, not only that, but there were several cuts and scrapes that she's unsure of the origin.

It left her feeling achy and dirty, she wanted to be clean, she wanted a nice warm, soft bed, her bed. Mostly she wanted her mom and wondered why she hadn't come for her yet? She had to know she was missing by now, she was looking for her right?

Tears start to well up in her eyes and the little villain boy's eyes widen in response to this, "Geez don't be so sensitive I didn't mean anything by it."

They started to fall in streams down her face, and Jay was about to panic until he remembered, "Hey you're hungry right? Let's go get something to eat, what do you say."

Wiping away her tears with her arms she nods, and slowly stands up.

They move slower than the previous day and Jane's very grateful for that since she's tired and sore.

As he leads her back the way the little girl thinks they came last night she starts to see unfamiliar surroundings, he's brought her to some sort of market she hadn't yet seen.

"Okay here's the plan see that vendor right there?" He points at one that looks like it has loaves of bread for sale, "Yes...," she had an idea of where this was going, her mom would be so disappointed in her if she stole something but just the sight of the bread alone makes her stomach come alive.

She was hungry, and it was only one thing and her mom said eating was important... and she wouldn't do it again, besides was stealing still bad if it was a villain you were stealing from? She didn't know but it couldn't be as bad at least that was the blue-eyed girl's reasoning.

Not ten minutes later she and her fellow partner in crime were sitting in the alleyway with a loaf of bread, she was breathing hard and looking around warily but Jay just sat down and broke off a piece of the bread and handed it to her.

She took it while still keeping an eye out for danger, "Relax, eat, he's not chasing us."

"Are you sure?" The half-fairy asked since she thought she'd heard him say something about hanging them by their in-something or other when he caught them and while she didn't know what that was it probably wasn't a good thing.

"Look if he followed us this far he'd have lost more than just one loaf of bread," the young villain took a big bite out of his bread before continuing with his mouth full, "leaving the rest of his merch unattended means he'll not have a single loaf left by the time he came back to it, so." He swallows, "he'll not leave it if he's got any sort of brain."

"That makes sense."

Finally, she relaxed and took a bite of the bread well she tried to anyway. "It's hard like a rock!" She exclaimed in surprise and with slight frustration.

"You're kidding, right? This is some of the softest bread I've had in ages!" As if to prove the point he takes another big bite and chews.

"It's stale." Not that she's ever had old bread that's gone stale before, but she knew that's what it must be from the hardness of it.

"Stale or rotten take your pick princess that's all there is. Well occasionally there's soggy but that's mostly at Ursula's place."

"Ursula's?" Jane barely contains a gasp, she's heard about her she's a witch of some kind.

"Ya she has a restaurant, but you have to deal with pirates if you wanna eat there."

"Pirates!" Like the walk the plank kind, she worries. Her mom had only just signed her up for swimming lesson recently she hadn't even taken one class yet!

Jay stuffed the last part of his bread into his mouth then spoken through his bread, "Ya, hey you gonna eat that?"

Jane hugged the bread to her nodding, "Then hurry up we have things to do."

"Like what?" She muttered while thinking about the bread in her hands, the small girl wanted to eat but the bread wasn't warm or soft, it wasn't fair... she was so hungry.

"That thing you were gonna help me with remember?" The villain kid rolls his eyes.

"Are we stealing something again?" She didn't want to... but she'd promised.

Jay grinned, "You bet!"

Jane frowns and finally tears into her bread chewing down hard, silently she apologizes to her mom for what she's about to do. The brunette continues until her jaw is sore then she takes off her dresses' jacket to wrap up the rest for later.

"Good idea!" Jay watches her for a minute before grabbing it from the girl, she starts to protest but he warps it in a way that she can wear it as a sling with the bread in it, once he does that the boy helps her secure it, so she'll be able to run with it. They take their leave after that with her giving him a smile and a quick thanks.

He frowns and for a second Jane sees a look in his eyes that she doesn't recognize but it disappears so fast it was almost like it hadn't been there at all, he smiles back, "No problem, we're pals right?"

Jane forgets about the look and smiles widely, she didn't have any friends unless you count Chad and she didn't so was Jay her first friend maybe?

"Let's go."

With that said Jane followed after Jay to steal something for a second time that day but that didn't mean she was planning to become a villain or anything.

-

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait in between updates I'll try not to let that happen again. So how much longer will little Jane be able to avoid Maleficent and her thugs? Sadly, kiddie Carlos hasn't appeared yet, but you know Cruella she probably has him taking care of her furs or doing some other servant-like tasks.


	3. The Isle of the Lost: Jay and Mal

Turned out that Jafar's business had one main competitor and Jay's plan that he needed Jane's help with was to distract the owner long enough for him to make off with the goods.

It didn't go so well... for Jane that is.

She was caught but Jay escaped with the loot, it hurt that he could've helped but would rather get the merch as he called it than save her but really, she should've known better after all he was a villain too.

And she should've never listened to or trusted a villain.

"Let go!" She cried as the man who owned the thrift shop pulled roughly on her arm, she didn't want to go where ever he was taking her, "Not a chance brat you lost me some valuable stuff."

Her arm is sure to be purple after how tightly he was dragging her still she wouldn't give up just yet even though it hurt the little girl kept pulling trying to free her arm.

It wasn't working.

So, she did the next thing that came to mind, she kicked him. Her mother would be so disappointed in her but she to was disappointed because unfortunately, her kick didn't have much strength behind it and didn't reach very far either.

He just laughed at her pathetic attempts to escape which brought frustrated tears to her eyes, "I wasn't sure before now, but I guess that what I've heard is true," His grin was ugly, and it had nothing to do with his missing or yellowed teeth either, "Maleficent is looking for you little Auradon girl!"

Jane gasped, he knew who she was and worse he was bringing her back to the evil fairy!

As the blue-eyed girl's struggles renewed a little boy who was watching from the rooftops nearly fell off said rooftop at the information he overheard.

"She's an Auradon kid!? It all makes sense now..."

-

It didn't take long before she was back in the presence of the one who started her whole nightmare Maleficent herself.

Mostly the tired, sore, hungry, dirty little girl just stood there silently and not listening as the awful thrift shop owner haggled with the fairy for her return.

Why wasn't her mom here yet?

So, another hand grabbed her arm and the exchange was complete, "My, my look at you my dear little Jane so filthy I doubt even think your own mother would recognize you like this." The endearment was said mockingly as was the whole sentence really but that's not what the little brunette caught onto.

Jane's drooping head shot up at that, was that the reason her mom couldn't find her?

Maleficent just laughed at the child's face, "You really think she's coming for you, don't you my dear?"

"She is!" Her lips trembled as she spoke back to the evil woman in front of her, the fairy just put on a sad face and not a very convincing one either, "Poor sweet stupid Jane," her mask slipped, and she was back to grinning again, "Your mommy's not coming."

Refusing to believe the villain she shook her head, "You're lying!" She screamed with her eyes closed tightly and tears flowing freely.

"I am a fairy of my word I think you'll soon come to find," she lets go of the girl's bruised arm and instead grabs her face, her nails scratching the little girl's cheeks and tearing the skin just enough to make it hurt when her salty tears get into the cuts.

"She. Is. Not. Coming." She wanted to make sure the words stuck so she put emphasis on each of them.

The little girl wouldn't believe a villain over her own mother!

She wouldn't!

The fairy sighed letting the girl go so suddenly it caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground, "Do you want to know why your mothering isn't coming?"

Jane stayed quiet.

"I'll tell you," looking down at the pathetic girl plans started to form more clearly than ever before in her mind and it made her next words all the sweeter, "It's because of you."

Stuffy blue-eyes open and look up from the ground, "What... do you mean me?"

"You, my silly child took a stranger's hand willingly and by doing so you have made it so your mother's magic will never find you here."

Eyes widen, that couldn't be true could it? Did magic work like that?

"So, you see Jane it's all your fault."

Her mind went blank.

Before everything came rushing back in... was it her fault?

It was all her fault.

She was stuck here, and it was her fault.

Her own doing lead to this. It. Was. Her. Fault.

Her mom couldn't find her... because of her.

It was all her fault.

"I guess you should be careful who you trust in the future hmm?"

Tears wanted to fall but whether it was because she was too exhausted, had used them all up, or was dehydrated she didn't know or care.

She sat there unmoving until Maleficent called out to one of the lurking female villains in the area to get her cleaned up and bring her back here immediately after, so she could start her on her lessons.

So, she was unceremoniously hauled away to get cleaned up but at the moment she didn't care that she'd finally be clean she didn't care about anything.

-

"Jay come out I know you're lurking around here," the evil fairy said all the while filing her nails with a nail filer that a minion had produced on demand.

The little boy thought he was hiding really well this time too but apparently not, he comes out of his shadowy hiding spot. "Go make yourself useful and fetch my daughter."

"...Okay." After all one didn't say no to Maleficent without facing the consequences and after what he just witnessed he knew that she could be cruel in fact her cruelty would probably make the Auradon girl into an Isle one if it hasn't already...

Though what the evil fairy wanted with a kid from there the once-genie's son didn't know but whatever it was couldn't be good, it actually made him feel sorry for her well sorrier.

Shaking his head at the thought because he couldn't afford to have it, now time to find Mal.

Jay had rarely hung with her as she was kind of bossy but not the worst villain kid if you wanted to hang out with someone besides she could pull her own weight and in the end that's what mattered.

-

Mal wasn't happy for the second day in a row her mom was sending people to fetch her, this time she hoped she'd get a lesson unlike yesterday though she was excited for what her mom had to teach her she was also very aware that it might not turn out well for her.

Still, the half-fairy knew not to keep her mother waiting, her temper was something to be avoided at all costs if possible sadly it usually wasn't possible.

But if she was lucky maybe she wouldn't bear the brunt of her fiery temper today.

Sadly, nine times out of ten she wasn't lucky.

But that's alright she told herself if it helps make her a stronger person, someone more like her mother and that's what she wanted at least that's what she told herself that she wanted.

Perhaps if she told herself this enough one day she would truly believe it.

She wished today was that day.

-

Jane was clean and dressed in not exactly new clothes but different ones that were untorn and as clean as things probably got around here but still, she didn't care.

Maleficent was pacing impatiently in front of her muttering to herself but the brunette just stood there silently waiting for what she didn't know but it wasn't for her mom... not anymore.

Suddenly a voice cuts through the empty warehouse, "I'm here, mother."

Jane looks over to see a girl her age with purple hair, she'd never seen such a hair color before and vaguely wondered if the evil fairy's hair was purple underneath those horn things atop her head before deciding it didn't matter.

The kid beside Maleficent's daughter made something spark back to life in her eyes though because it was Jay! Why was he here? Did he... did he set her up back there to get caught so she'd be taken back to the dark fairy?

Briefly, he met her shocked eyes before guiltily glancing away and that in Jane's mind confirmed his guilt, he knew the whole time and pretended to be her friend... he was evil just like the rest of them.

He wasn't a friend like she'd thought.

She didn't have any friends.

And now she didn't have a mom and that was her fault.

Jane decided she wouldn't be tricked again.

"Mal my precious daughter there you are," the fairy walks over to her daughter who is was currently standing near the other half-fairy eying her funnily.

Maleficent pats her daughter on the head while said daughter tenses as if she's about to be hit, it confuses Jane, but she stays quiet.

"Now that you are here the first lesson can get underway," Briefly the fairy glances to the little boy still standing around, "What are you still doing here?"

"Um..." He answers awkwardly, "Be off with you," she makes a shooing motion with her hands, "I've no need of you any longer."

He backs away and pauses looking at Jane who gives him her best glare and turns away from him, with that he leaves.

Mal eyes Jay's retreating form and looks over at the girl she's never seen and wonders what was up with that before her mother demands her attention again.

"You see Mal people are either minions or tools," Mal nods her head, "Now tell me Mal which one are you?"

Jane's eyes grow wide when she hears this, the tiny brunette thought that the little girl before her was the evil fairy's daughter? "I'm a... tool?" It was not so much said as asked, Jane saw Maleficent shake her head and make a tsk-ing sound, "No my daughter," So she was her mother, "you are not."

Mal blinks, "Then I'm a... minion?" The evil fairy grins wickedly, "For now, but don't worry I have every confidence in your ability to prove yourself more useful in the future."

"I'll-I'll do my best."

"No, no my dear it's your worst that I'll be looking for."

"Then that's what I'll do."

"Smart girl." Once again, she pats the girls head but it's in no way affectionate it's something meant to be degrading and even in the eyes of the good fairy's daughter, she can see that.

The Isle was awful it didn't just keep villains inside it created them too.

Villains like Jay who had to steal for his father and probably didn't really know any better.

Villains like Mal who would do or say whatever her mother asked because isn't that what a good daughter should do?

And finally, herself she didn't think that she was evil, but she did steal food because she was hungry, she helped Jay steal again because he'd asked her to and now getting lessons from Maleficent could only mean one thing... she was going to do something bad again.

How many bad things could a person do before they became evil?

How long before she became evil?

She didn't want to, but would that be enough to stop it?

Jane didn't know but the future well and truly scared her.


	4. Jane's First Year: Isle of the Lost Style

Mal thought this is what it must be like to have a younger sister... a younger sister that her mother treated worse than her, much worse or maybe it was just harder given that she could use magic.

At first, the purple haired girl had been extremely jealous of the brunette for being able to access her magic when Mal could not despite also having fairy blood in her veins, in fact, she'd been downright mean to the other girl and it still surprised her that she was eventually forgiven for her actions.

Of course, forgiven doesn't mean forgotten, not that Mal could blame her.

The girl still had nightmares about that one day with her mom and Jane that she wasn't supposed to see and well after witnessing that it just felt so wrong to be jealous of her and if she wasn't jealous there was no reason to be mean.

Speaking of Jane there she was practicing her magic... the dark half-fairy still wished she could do it too but shaking those thoughts away she calls out, "Jane, I'm meeting up with Jay we're going to pick on Shrimpy wanna come?"

Losing focus the other girl looks over, "Okay."

After all, it was better to bully someone else than getting bullied yourself, she'd learned this the hard way...

-

Two months into her stay at the Isle and Jane was getting used to the other girl's hurtful words, they used to make her cry or at least tear up but now it was if they rolled right off of her truthfully it still hurt but it was just words.

Words she could handle, even getting shoved and pushed around by the slightly bigger girl wasn't too bad her skin didn't bruise as easily anymore either.

Today though she awoke like normal, a little cold, more than a bit hungry, and sore but at least she had gotten herself a mattress a week before it was moth-eaten and lumpy, but it beat the floor.

Opening her eyes, she blinked something was on her face... it was fuzzy and a spider she screams knocks it away then sits up or tries to, but she's stuck by her head, so the brunette's hands come up to her hair and find it sticky.

Her hands get stuck too, there's laughing in the background and Jane turns her head as much as she's able to see Mal's laughing face, "What's wrong Jane are you stuck?" The mocking in her voice makes her sound more like her mother than she knew.

"Mal... please get it off me?" Her eyes had tears in them, but she blinked them away not wanting to show weakness.

"Sorry I'm powerless to help you, oh I know why don't you use your magic?"

The blue-eyed girl struggled some more before admitting, "I can't!"

"Well that's just too bad then isn't it?" She smirked and then another voice entered the room it was the dark fairy herself, "Girls what is all this racket first thing in the morning?"

"It's nothing mom Jane's just a little stuck right now," Maleficent enters the room, "Really Mal gluing her hair to the bed?" For a second the young girl looks down thinking she's about to get into trouble, "Next time get the skin darling it'll be much more painful."

Mal brightens up at that and Jane witnesses another bonding moment between mother and daughter that makes her sick, but she doesn't say so, in fact, she says nothing, but the purple-haired youth does, "Well the idiot grabbed her hair and it's still wet so at least her hands will be sore!"

The evil fairy laughs at this and praises Mal once more before helping the brunette by ripping her hands away along with some skin causing her to cry out in pain, "This is strong stuff my dear," she looks back at the girl in question and said girl puffs up, "I mixed it myself."

After that she told her daughter to get something to cut her hair with, later her hair was uneven all over and she was sent off with some minion to wash the remaining stuff out of her hair, for a while after that the green-eyed girl would tease her about her hair and having bald spots.

All in all, it was a bad day but not the worst one she'd ever had.

-

Two and a half months into Jane's stayed and she was hiding, it would do no good she'd eventually be found and punished she knew this but right now the brunette didn't care.

The half-fairy wasn't her mother she couldn't do the amazing magical things that a Fairy God Mother was capable of and if she couldn't then what would happen to her?

Her magic barely made a spark big enough to light a candle and only had enough force to move a pencil... it was hopeless and Maleficent was anything but a patient teacher, in fact, the only one happy about the current situation was Mal.

The evil daughter just loved to rub her worthlessness in her face and watch her fail though she never seemed to stick around when her mother lost her temper probably because she didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.

Jane rubs at her left wrist and the newly made burn visible there, it was a punishment mark. She'd been made to magically light a candle and then forced to hold her wrist over it until the evil woman was satisfied.

A few minutes into her own personal pity party and figure jumps down from above starling her, "Oh, it's just you, Jay..."

Her first 'friend' personally she didn't blame him for her plight anymore after figuring out how the adults here worked it's not like she's any better than he is but at least she still wants to be but maybe that's the problem.

"Hey what happened to you lose a fight with an alley cat?"

She glowered at him, "What?" He points to her head, "Oh," He means her new haircut courtesy of Mal it's not as if she's forgotten about it how could she with a certain purple haired menace constantly reminding her but it's her first time outside in a while and well having no one but the other half-fairy to listen to she's started to tune her out.

"No, it was Mal."

"Yikes, she still that jealous of you?" The brunette shrugs, "I don't care," she didn't really Mal had already decided to hate her and she didn't see that ever changing so she'd just deal with it like everything else she couldn't run away from, "So who are you hiding from Mal or her mom?"

Jane doesn't answer that, "Why do you care? What do you want Jay, help to steal something?" She eyes him suspiciously he just throws up his hands in mock surrender, "No nothing like that."

The blue-eyed girl snorts, "Yeah right." The silence afterward is thick, she'd understood where Jay was coming from and that time he said his dad would kill him if he came back home at that time she knew now was not just a kid exaggerating but one stating the obvious.

She's seen the adult villains lost their temper after all and she's even seen a dead body recently... she's not looking forward to seeing someone actually kill somebody, but it's bound to happen at some point.

Still, she does not trust Jay because he's a liar and a thief.

"Well if you need a place to hang until you're ready to face the music you remember were the abandoned flat is right? You can go there."

She didn't want to owe him and even if he was sincere enough now later when he needs something he'll use it for leverage, "No thanks, the longer I stay away the more time it gives her to come up with truly dreadful punishments."

"Hmm, so it's Maleficent then." He looks thoughtful, "Guess your right but if you ever wanna get away from Mal my offer still stands."

Jane stood up, "I can take anything Mal throws at me."

"Maybe you can but your hair can't, there's not much left." It was said jokingly but well it was still mean which is probably the only way he knows how to joke but still, "Keep talking like that if you want to sport a matching hairstyle."

That shut him up, even if it'd be hard to get ahold of him to do the same things to him well everybody lets their guard down at some point.

"Hey, no need for threats though..." His eyebrow goes up, "Though what?" The girl asks.

"You've changed from the little Auradon crybaby, now your making threats and pulling off some mean looks."

She rolls her eyes, "I haven't changed that much but I don't cry anymore so you got one thing right."

"Really?" He asks not convinced.

"Really." She states with arms crossed tightly, "Well okay if you say so before you head home to face the music wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"I knew it," She points at the boy beside her, "you did come here for help stealing something!"

He rolls his eyes then, "Hardly I can get my own food, just thought I'd invite you if you're up for it. So, are you?"

She probably wouldn't get anything to eat tonight as one form of punishment, not the worse one coming her way but still, it might be smart to eat before like Jay said, "I am hungry so sure okay but I'm not being the distraction."

"Alright."

He wasn't going to mock her but inside he was playing back there first meeting in which she said stealing's bad and even had a judgmental tone, well that tone's sure changed now though in a way Jay missed the naïve little girl he first met over two months ago she was unique and now well whether she realized it or not she was becoming one of them and sooner rather than later there wouldn't be any difference other than parentage.

It was sad but then again nothing was ever really happy on the Isle because the Isle destroys happy things.

And once she was probably a happy girl, after all, she gave him a genuine smile once before, didn't she...? It was probably the last one she'll ever give which was ironically the first one he'd ever seen.

Probably the last for him too... not much to really smile about here after all.

-

Five months it's been nearly half a year and any lingering hope Jane still had that her mother was coming for her was well and truly crushed by this point.

"Look at her," Jane who was reading an old magic tome looks to where Mal's pointing, "Who, you mean Evie?"

The purple haired kid frowns, "Yeah little miss self-proclaimed princess who thinks she's too good for us lowly commoners." The blue-eyed girl looks back to the blue-haired girl who is staring or more like day-dreaming at the window of her mother's castle.

"Doesn't it just make you sick?" No, not really, she looks lonely not like she's snubbing anyone at least that's what Jane sees looking up at the other little girl but that's not how she replies she knows better after all, "Yeah absolutely disgusted." But only with herself, she thinks again.

"I know right," A wicked grin appears then and the other girl knows she's going to be doing something that she doesn't want to do, the story of her life really. "I just saw a cart full of apples and I think little miss 'princess' Evie would appreciate if we got some for her what do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea... to start with but why stop at just apples when you could give her a variety?" This makes Mal laugh, "I like the way that you think." Jane just grins outwardly but inside she thinks that she hates it but maybe one day she won't if this becomes second nature if it becomes fun then maybe it'll stop hurting so much.

It seems to have worked for the other kids she's met on the Isle or maybe they never had the disadvantage of having been taught about right and wrong, good or evil at least not from the right side, the good side... she's had both and wishes that she'd only had one.

But her wishes don't come true, her dreams don't come true... Fairy God Mother's don't visit the Isle of the Lost.

She doesn't know when she stopped believing in dreams and wishes and Fairy God Mothers and all that, she does know is that she has but maybe that's okay... she picks up a random rotten fruit which happens to be a tomato out of the lot that she and Mal have collected, "So you first?" Jane's light blue-eyes find Mal's piercing green ones and she smiles, "Sure."

Then facing the castle looking up at the clueless daydreaming girl she throws it and hits her right in the face and Mal laughs before joining in and they both get in two or three strikes before the girl gathers her wits and leaves the window.

They both laugh, and the dark fairy's daughter raises her hand for a high-five and the good fairy's daughter gives her the high-five.

It has to be okay.

She'd make it that way even if the girl had to lie to herself and be someone she was not.

If she had to be a villain to not hurt anymore then that's what she'd be.

And with Mal beside her and Maleficent as her teacher, she supposed she wasn't off to a bad start or actually she was a very bad one but bad was good here so that was okay.

-

Six months and she'd pretty much gotten a lay of the land so to speak, catching sight of a familiar head of purple hair she stopped her stroll.

"What are you doing?" Jane asks her fellow half-fairy, "Making an improvement." That said she goes back to her artwork which consists of graffiting a poster of King Beast, "Is that really an improvement?"

"What you don't think warts are in this year?" The girl shrugs, "You wanna help?" She turns around and extends her paintbrush, "Nah I'm not that good at drawing."

Mal grins, "All the better then, here." She hands her the brush with red paint, "Go wild."

Taking the brush and looking at the poster she wonders if she'll feel guilty if she as Mal says 'Goes wild' after all she's met the king before and he was nice.

As if sensing her hesitation, the purple haired girl speaks, "You know it's his fault that you're here right?"

"What?" The girl asks confused, "He brought all the villains back, gathered them up and stuffed them on this island with that stupid barrier... sure a villain kidnapped you, but they were just being a villain, what's his excuse?" She points her paintbrush with all it's dripping green paint at the poster hard enough to sling said paint at the poster.

Jane had never really thought about it like that before, wasn't trapping all of the villains together in one place a not so good thing... he had to know that it would make for a very bad and dangerous living environment... had he cared?

Does he care?

Looking at the paint smeared poster there was really only one conclusion she could come up with. Walking forward she smears the paint down his face from his left eye, it looked like blood... bloody tears.

He didn't deserve tears though so next thing she did was paint the left side of his head downwards like he'd been hit in the head and was bleeding... Jane wasn't sorry for it either.

She'd bleed too much during her short stay here and likely would continue to in the future, and really even if it wasn't his fault it still felt nice to blame someone other than herself for once.

"That's the spirit!" Mal laughs.

-

Eight months and it was normal to see Jane with both Mal and Jay though more often than not lately she was lying in bed as Mal tended to her burns which she had many, today was such a day.

"Hold still," The girl doesn't, "Stop it!" The other one doesn't listen and just shoves her forcefully to the bed, "I need to do this, or you'll get another infection and that'll just set mom off again!"

She stills at that.

"Okay..." the purple hair girl sighs and applies the burn cream to Jane's burnt back, "Where did you get it from?" the brunette's voice is muffled due to her face being pressed into the other girl's pillow, "Jay got it."

"How?" it wasn't something easily acquired on the Isle after all, "I didn't ask."

Now she owed him, but it was better than getting an infection like Mal said, "You should've just did it."

"Did what?" The girl pretends to be clueless.

"You know what." The daughter of Maleficent says angrily.

Turning her face away from the pillow she whispers, "I couldn't."

"No, you didn't want to," she huffs and coats her fingers some more and adds it to the girl's upper back near her left shoulder where it's the worst.

"..."

"Next time just do it." The dark half-fairy says worriedly.

"...No." Is the stubborn reply she's met with.

Standing up from the bed she slams down the container of medicine on the dresser beside the bed, "Are you stupid?"

Not doing what Maleficent wants is stupid she knows this, "...Yes."

"Then just do it next time if not for you then what about me?"

This causes the girl laying down to look confused, "You?"

"Yeah me, I don't wanna keep having to put medicine on you and Jay has to do who knows what to get the stuff so if you think you're being selfless you're not you're being selfish by making us have to take care of you by getting hurt when you can stop it!" Tears of frustration appear in the girl's eyes, but she swipes them away so fast she's sure they weren't seen.

She's wrong though.

Jane stays quiet as Mal's word's sink in.

"So next time just do it."

"...Okay." Turning her face back into the pillow she lets her tears fall for the first time in months and for the first ever Mal doesn't make fun of her for it.

And next time Maleficent asks her to use her magic to break someone's bones or burn them she does it without hesitation.

She hates herself for it.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wonders what her mother would think of her, but the thought is quickly brush to the side because it didn't matter... her mother wasn't there.

Maleficent was though and Mal was too...

So, she does it for Mal because the girl who was once just a purple-haired menace was the closest thing she had to a sister to a family anymore and she didn't want her to be upset.

Jane may even have done it for Jay her first 'friend' but only because she owed it to him no other reason.

-

It's been ten months and Jay was doing his thing which meant stealing while Mal was covering for him as for Jane she wasn't doing anything well anything that anyone could blame her of doing, her magic however made it, so the pursuers got all tripped up over themselves.

Nothing too advanced or horrible and it still made her awfully tired, she was still years away from being able to bring down the barrier her mother put up even Maleficent knew she had to grow both physically and magically before it could be done but that didn't make the waiting easy.

On either one of them but at least for the evil fairy she now had an even better way to keep people in line, threaten to have her use her magic on them, after all, she listened to what Maleficent said and people knew it.

Did this finally make her a villain she wondered while eating the food she'd helped Jay and Mal steal?

Did she even care anymore if it did?

-  
Author's Note: This chapter was filled with bits that I thought were important character building moments from her first year on the Isle, Carlos and her meet in the later half of second year on the Isle which will be about two chapters long. The story will start to flow better and not be bits and pieces when year 7 rolls around. Thanks for reading, drop a comment if you feel like it!


	5. Jane's Second Year: Isle of the Lost Style Part I

Thirteen months since Jane first arrived and currently she was eating her first as Jay called it soggy food at Ursula's Fish and Chips it wasn't awful all things considered but it wasn't good either still it was her first time at a restaurant in recent memory and well those other memories were firmly in don't talk about it don't think about it category.

Suddenly the doors swing open and her blue eyes follow the sound to find a very wet and extremely pissed off Mal storming in, "New look?" The glower she sent Jane's way would've sent a lesser person running but well she's familiar with the other girl's attitude by now.

"Harry Hook… where is he?" It was a demand, one that you didn't not answer if you knew what was good for you but one glance around Jane just shrugged, "Not here, why?"

As if it wasn't obvious, "Because I'm gonna kill him!" Storming over she grabs a handful of fries off of the other girl's plate before glaring at anyone who so much as looked at her funny before once again making a dramatic exit.

After a few beats to make sure the girl wasn't going to come back in the brunette kicks someone underneath the table causing them to curse, "You owe me some fries now."

The person in question crawls out from under it and grins his pirate in training grin, personally, Jane thinks it makes him look more like the Mad hatter than a Hook, but she digressed. "You know I'm good for it."

"Uh huh." He'd conveniently forget later and then never be as he said, 'good for it', "Pay up now or I might suddenly see you and go get Mal."

His hands raised in surrender, "Alright, alright girly I'll go get you yer fries."

And to think pirates used to scare her and now she was hiding one albeit one in training under her table from her 'adopted sister' the world works in mysterious ways.

A minute later a new plate of fries drops in front of her, "Yay my favorite!" The girl mock claps, the pirate boy just rolls his eyes and plops down into an empty seat at her table, "So what happened with Mal I didn't get the full story before you dove under the table."

"A minor disagreement is all." Uh huh minor.

"One where you shoved her into the water?" She says around a mouthful of fries, manners aren't really so important anymore after all.

He shrugs and snatches a fry, "You know she can't swim right and get your own damn fries."

"I did I just gave them to you." He tries to steal another, but she yanks the plate away with a hiss and he gives up for the moment.

The two of them met some months back when funnily enough Hook was getting back at Mal for shoving Shrimpy or rather Uma into the water, fortunately, the girl in question could swim. Jane did what she normally did when not backing Mal up... she stayed out of it.

Seeing as the water was a potential threat Jane might end up having to face one day she took it head on and tried to get Uma to teach her to swim but given the way that she stood aside while Mal did was Mal does the other girl wasn't having it but Gil was around and he can't for the life of him keep anything quiet so it got back to one Harry Hook that she was interested in swimming lessons and thus an unlikely kind-of not-really friendship was born.

Though in all honesty, Gil taught her how to swim most of the time because Hook wasn't one to not expect something in return whereas Gil... really he wasn't much of a villain and that's probably why he was Jane's favorite pirate well pirate in training.

Still, Harry Hook would tell anyone that he's the one who taught her to swim despite her giving credit where it was truly due.

-

Fifteen months and Jane had all but put her previous life in behind her mostly because it hurt to think about but partly because it was the dream, and this was the reality and she knew which one she lived in now.

"Hey Jane, can I ask you a question?" The purple haired girl asks one day while the two of them and Jay are lounging around after school, "You just did," the girl teased.

"Smartass," she swats her, "I was just wondering… you were an Auradon kid right I mean before…" It was unlike Mal to be so unsure with her words but there it was, Jay on the other hand who had been tossing an apple up and down was taken off guard and missed the catch which resulted in it hitting him in the face.

Fortunately for him, rotten fruit is softer even apples.

"Yeah… I was before I was kidnapped, why?" The girl asks trying to sound uncaring of the subject.

"What was it like?" The other girl asks, "It was… different."

"How?" Mal asks again, "Just different, more food… and well just different is all."

"You mean better?" The girl huffed, "I don't know. I guess, maybe. I don't really remember so let's just drop it!" She didn't want the two of them to know that talking about it upset her but too late now she supposed.

"Alright," Jay says while rubbing his face trying to think of a way to get rid of the awkwardness that had descended, "So-"

Mal doesn't get the memo apparently though, "Who are your parents?"

"Why's that matter?" The brunette said defensively.

"Because that's why mom had you kidnapped right because of them and your ability to do magic inside of the barrier which comes from your parents, doesn't it?" The girl kept pushing despite Jay trying to motion at her to cease the questioning.

"It doesn't matter." The stubborn girl glares at her 'sister'.

"It does!" The girl glares right back at her.

"No, it doesn't!" She throws her hands up in the air.

Mal presses on, "Yes it-"

Then finally Jay has had enough, "Mal drop it, she's here now so that's all that really matters in the end… right?"

The both go quiet.

"So, you really don't remember?" The dark fairy's daughter asks finally her eyes looking for something that Jane doesn't understand.

"That's what I said."

And that was that, Mal dropped it and never brought it up again even when others introduced themselves via their parents and Jane's response as always when it was directed at her was to say she didn't have any.

Jay not wanting conflict because he dealt with it enough at home also never mentioned it again not even when their group grew from three to five or in the years following that.

-

One year and five months into her stay saw Jane and Mal once again outside of the Evil Queen's castle.

"You know she's not dumb enough to stand at the window with it opened again so why are we even wasting our time?"

Mal swats down and shh-ing her while yanking her down as well, "Wait for it," before she can ask what she's waiting for she sees it.

"Is she leaving the castle?" Jane questions bewildered, "Not only is she leaving but she's sneaking out, see?"

Her blue eyes take a closer look and she catches into what Mal is talking about, she's being shifty and looking over her shoulder constantly meaning she hasn't gotten permission from her mom to leave.

"Looks like the princess is going to grace us with her presence we should go greet her."

"Yes, I'm sure a nice hello is exactly what you had in mind." Jane said sarcastically.

"Come on," Mal grabs her arm and soon the two are tailing the bluenette from the castle grounds into the busy street of one of the main markets.

After a while of watching her look around in wonder like the poor sheltered girl that she is the purple haired menace decides to rear her head, "See that stand right there?"

"Yeah?" The girl looks to the trinket stall, "That one is vicious when he catches you stealing from him."

"And you want us to..." She knew where this was going, "We're gonna give the princess a valuable life lesson is all."

"Yes, That's what this is... Okay, how do you wanna do it?" Jane knew what Mal was really doing but like the good follower she was turning into she didn't question it.

Mal smirks evilly, "Okay here's the plan, I look interested in something there and while his attention is on me you levitate one of those... that one necklace right there into her pocket, make it noticeably sticking out though."

"You didn't have to tell me that last part." It was obvious that's what she had in mind.

"I know just covering all my ground," She winks, "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it," she laughs, "I know."

Mal walks up and starts browsing and well, all the stall owner's attention is on her and why wouldn't it be? If anyone was going to steal or rip him off it'd be Maleficent's daughter.

However today it'd be someone else or at least it'd look like someone else really this was all Mal's fault despite her not protesting it though she could look at it this way she was just practicing her magic.

The next few minutes went as the villain in training had planned and once the stage was set she signaled Mal to let her know and of course the drama queen acted, "Oh what a nice necklace you've got there," for good measure she motioned to the pocket not that it was needed as the stall owner's beady little eyes zeroed in on it right away.

"Oh," Evie says startled, "I've no idea how that got there." It was a genuine surprise but the man didn't buy it and roughly grabbed her arm with a cry of 'thief', "Please I didn't steal anything here," reaching into her pocket to give it back she managed it only further incriminate herself as she pulled out more than just the necklace.

It even took Mal by surprise, Jane had really outdone herself this time.

Though at the girl's panicking the former Auradon felt a little bad it really did remind her of herself when she first arrived on the island... maybe that's why she didn't mind doing this as much when it came to Evie or maybe she really was just that mean now.

"Pay up or face the consequences," the little girl was close to tears at this point and Mal had backed away from the scene to stand by Jane content to watch the fall out sadly it wasn't to be as just then the Evil Queen made an appearance and saved her from punishment.

"Man this sucks," Mal pouted as the Queen and her little princess left, "There's always next time."

"Well at least one good thing came of it," the brunette looks her way curiously, "that you made the princess cry?"

Grinning Mal spoke, "Okay two things then," having said that she produced an emerald-colored beaded bracelet and Jane blinks, "I didn't think you liked jewelry and just when did you swipe that?"

"I've been taking cues from Jay and you're right I don't like jewelry that much but it's not for me." With that, she hands it over to the surprised villain in training beside her.

"It's for me?" She couldn't recall the last time someone gave her something without anything in return.

"Don't make a big deal about it just put it on." She tells her offhandedly.

Not arguing she does just that, "Come on you've got training it's best to not keep mother waiting."

"Right." The girl nods while trying to keep her eyes off of her new bracelet.

"Oh and Jane Happy Birthday."

She blinks, it was her birthday... she'd completely forgotten but it appeared that Mal didn't.

She smiled and for a minute she was happy but then the minute was over and the real world set in.

It was time to go home to Maleficent.

She didn't even realize that it'd been home to her for a while now and not because the young fairy wanted it to be but because she had nowhere else.

Home apparently was not always where the heart was.

-

A year and a half on the Isle found Jane hanging around Ursula's Fish and Chips only this time it was more hiding there from Maleficent's temper, it was just one of those days.

Looking around for something to do to pass the time she sees Gil and Uma, "Hey, Uma, Gil."

The shorter girl glares, "So you do know my name," Jane rolls her eyes, "Well I didn't think it was Shrimpy I mean your mom's not that evil." Even for a villain was silently tacked on.

"Hehee Shrimpy…" Gil chuckles and gets hit in the stomach by the temperamental girl he was laughing at.

Ignoring the last bit of the other girl's sentence and Gil, for the most part, the pirate wannabe places her hands on her hips, "You still called me by it though." Her lips were pursed at the thought.

"Of course, I did, you're either with Mal or you're against her there is no in-between." The sea girl frowns, "Then be against her!"

The villain in training shakes her head, "Been there done that not going back."

"Why, surely you aren't afraid of her?" Afraid of Mal no but afraid of not having her around or even worse having her hate her again… yeah, not an option at least not one the little girl wanted to entertain.

"I'm not but it's a hassle to be Mal's enemy but then again I suppose you know that."

Leaning against the outside of the restaurant she continues, "I didn't come here to talk about Mal though, in fact, I was just bored and wondering if there was something you wanted to do?"

"Not with one of Mal's lackeys!" She thunders before grabbing the shirt of the boy beside her, "Come on Gil we're leaving," watching them head inside of her mom's restaurant Jane sighs, "speaking of lackeys."

"Oh well, I tired." Shoving off of the wall she glances around but sees no one worth talking to, "Maybe Jay's free… where would he be lurking at this time of day though?"

With that, she leaves the pirate area and heads to where the shops are as it was the most likely place to run into Jay speaking of run into…

Next thing she knows she is getting plowed into by a small boy though with the way they collided she was almost certain that he was part bus.

"Ow." The two say laying in a pile of tangled limbs before the boy comes to his senses and jumps away from her.

"Sorry," looking behind him a scary looking man is lumbering their way, "Gotta run."

And with that, the black and white blur takes off again.

"He's fast…" Jane stands up dusting off specks of dirt and taking one last look at the way the boy went before shrugging it off and continuing her search for Jay.

The brunette didn't give the boy another thought and went about her day as usual.

Three months later though they will collide into each other's lives again and that's when it sticks.


	6. Jane's Second Year: Isle of the Lost Style Part II (Carlos)

Nine months into Jane's second year on the Isle finds her using school as a way to avoid Maleficent's magic lessons, she wasn't the only one to use school as a way to get away but she was one of the few who was rarely late as the sooner she got to school the sooner the brunette could ditch the goons that the evil fairy had sent to spy on her.

Dragon Hall as the school was called was a different kind of school but then again everything on the Isle of the Lost was different though now it almost seemed normal. There was no set day to start so Jane just walked in one day and that was that she was officially enrolled, time was pretty flexible too.

Her classes were the same she heard some people didn't even stick to their schedules and took the classes they wanted or skipped ones they didn't.

As such she was currently attending her first lesson in Weird Science with Yen Sid the only non-villain on the Isle for some reason and once she'd learnt that the little girl almost considered telling him about her plight, almost... things had changed a lot since Jane had first arrived.

Sadly, even if the girl sometimes misses her mother she knew that her mom wouldn't want her anymore given the things she's done... better not to think about it too hard. She was an Isle kid now.

Yen Sid taught classes for pretty much every age group there was though things like age and grades were a bit more flexible here than other places not that nine-year-old Jane knew this though as having someone three to four years older than her in some classes was the norm.

At the moment the blue-eyed girl was watching a person mixing chemicals under the teacher's supervision when all of a sudden, an explosion rocks the room from the other side, Jane quickly looks over only to see a cloud of gases blocking her view and the teacher is quick to tell them all to cover their nose and mouth while exiting the classroom.

The girl does as she's told though not too quickly as not to be trampled by the bigger students frantically leaving. Once in the hallway most students; not that there were that many, take off to wherever it is that they go when they aren't in school.

Jane doesn't though she decides to stick around and see who caused the explosion, Yen Sid comes out following a small boy about her size maybe a little smaller, he was wearing a white shirt and black pants with some red shoes, his hair was the really unique thing about him though what with it being two different colors.

The teacher was telling him to wait right there and not to touch anything while he goes to get something to fix this.

With that Yen Sid takes off swiftly, the little boy is looking at his hand before shaking it as if trying to get something off, curious Jane asks, "What're you doing?" The boy startles as if he hadn't noticed her presence until now.

"Um, nothing." It wasn't very convincing you'd think by now all the kids on the Isle would be talented liars but apparently, that wasn't the case, though Gil wasn't very good at it either she thinks. She tilts her head, "Did you cause the explosion before?" He nods with a grin, "Yeah that was cool... though," He looks back at his hand, "it didn't really work out how I planned."

Looking at the hand he's now holding up she sees an empty glass tube stuck to his hand, "Huh did you make some kind of super-powered glue?" Mal was pretty good at that one too an unpleasant memory reminds her but at least her hair has grown back since then, though it's no longer to her mid back as to even it out she had to cut it short still it's shoulder length now.

Before he can answer her two kids rush pass one of them pushes her and before she can fall a hand grabs her arm, she glares at the two retreating students who completely ignore her before she turns to the boy holding her arm, "Thanks-" He cuts her off eyes going wide, "Oh no I'm sorry!" For a moment she's confused until the small brunette realizes what he's apologizing for.

"We're stuck, together aren't we?" The boy nods glumly, "Sorry..." Jane laughs, "You've apologized twice now come on are you a villain kid or not?" The little girl asks him as he nods, "Right sor-" He stops when he realizes what he's saying then laughs, "Okay I won't say it again, Yen Sid said he could fix it so I guess we just wait until he gets back."

Jane nods, "Yeah just try not to touch anything else." He agrees.

"So, we're stuck together for now," She looks to her arm before thinking of what they could do to pass the time before it hit her, "what's your name, I'm Jane." The little boy smiles, "Carlos De Vil." That name sounded familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint it, so she decides not to ask not wanting to come off as ignorant.

"The teacher seems to know you, how long have you been in school?" He shrugs, "Not long but I'm always blowing up stuff in his class... guess that leaves an impression." She giggles, "Do you do it on purpose?"

Carlos glances around before saying, "Sometimes... don't tell Yen Sid that though."

Jane's not naive enough to think she's made a friend again, Mal, Jay, Gil and maybe even Harry sometimes were the closest things to that she had because one didn't really have friends on the Isle, Jane knew that when it came down to it people really only look out for themselves and if they do you a favor even an unasked one, you owed them.

So, no Carlos wasn't a friend but maybe he could be close to one like the others.

The two talked for a few more minutes before Jay showed up, "Hey Jane there you are, Mal's looking for ya, who's this?" He points to the smaller boy.

"This is Carlos." Jay looks between them with a raised eyebrow, "Why's he holding your arm?"

 

"An accident in Weird Science, we're stuck together until the teacher gets back." Jane explains and seeing the thoughtful expression cross Jay's face she instantly regrets telling him, he zeros in on Carlos.

Pulling out little pieces of junk from various pockets the boy smirks before sticking a fake gold chain to his forehead, it sticks much to Jay's amusement and Carlos' annoyance, "Hey!" He goes to grab at it with his free hand, but Jane warns him not to just in time, the little thief finds this hilarious and pulls out a tarnished silver cup and sticks it to the boy's hair.

"Knock it off!" Jane tells him while Carlos restrains himself from trying to remove the items so as not to get further stuck.

"Nope!" He says popping the 'p' but as he's looking for something else to stick to the helpless boy Carlos decides enough is enough and uses his hand with the empty glass tube to grab the other boy's hand.

Jay's eyes widen as he uses his other hand to try and remove the one stuck to him only to make both of his hand useless, Carlos laughs at his expression and Jane joins in soon Jay is the annoyed one.

"Haha, it's not funny!" He tells them, "It kind of is." The only girl in the group says and Jay sighs, Carlos decides as long as they're stuck in this very strange predicament to make the best of it, "So what's your name?"

"Jay, son of Jafar." He tells him puffing up his chest before really looking at the boy, "and you're Cruella's son, right?" The younger boy's smile wavers before he nods, "That's right."

That's why she recognized the name, she'd once read the story of Cruella De Vil back in Auradon. If she was that mean to animals who knew how bad she'd be with kids... then again none of the adults around here were all that great, even Yen Sid ditched a boy who currently sticks to anything he touches in a hall where anybody could come across him.

Wouldn't it have been smarter to put him inside an empty classroom or just take him with, so he didn't get into any more trouble? Then again, he volunteered to live on the Isle, who did that?

So, the three of them passed the time talking about various things until Mal arrived at the scene looking for both Jay and Jane, "What in the world!?"

"Hey Mal, wanna join in?" Jay jokes and half an hour later find the four of them still stuck together when Yen Sid finally comes back, "Oh dear," He looks to the small bottle in his hand before saying, "I don't think this is enough for all of you."

So, in all of his wisdom, he leaves them alone again to go and brew more.

Sometimes Jane thought adults were stupid.

Finally, after spending a good few hours stuck together in a very strange and uncomfortable position for most of them especially poor Carlos the four were free and as soon as Mal got her hands back she smacked Jay upside the head, "I can't believe you did that!" Jane laughs, "I can." The purple haired girl glares and huffs before taking off only to stop mid-way, "Aren't you coming?"

She was looking at Jane, but Jay was quick to tag along but not without grabbing onto Carlos first and making him come along as well.

After that day it was rare to not see the four of them together or at least some combination of the four.

 

-

A few days into Carlos joining the gang he found out about Jane's magic, "That's so cool and kind of scary, what can you do with it?" Jane shrugs and tries to downplay it as Mal's around and likely to be hurt, "Small things, light candles, float stuff, it's not that useful."

"So how come it works inside of the barrier?" Jane had an idea given that her mother's magic powered the barrier, but she didn't want anyone to know that after all, it was better that way. "Not sure."

Mal joins in then, "Her magic is fairy magic too we're both half-fairies," She tells the youngest boy proudly before continuing, "but somehow it's different than mine, one day though when the barrier is destroyed I'll be able to perform magic as well," She turns to look at Jane, "once that happens my magic will become the strongest."

Jane doesn't argue, despite her learning how to use her magic and practicing whenever she could it wasn't like she wanted to learn it, to be powerful... she only did it because she had no other choice, still, it was a slightly sore spot for Mal and Jane's relationship.

Carlos looks back and forth between the two girls and as if sensing the tension pulls the conversation away from magic, "You really think the barrier will come down one day?" Mal rounds on the boy, "Of course it will, we won't be stuck here forever."

Carlos smiles, "That'd be nice..." Jay throws an arm around the other boy, "Yeah imagine how much stuff they've got to loot out there!" The De Vil kid laughs, "I just wanna see what kind of technology they have, I mean there's something called Wi-fi and-" Before he can get into what Jay dubbed as nerd talk the boy tackles him and the two start to wrestle.

Jay was going easy on the smaller boy but having just as much fun, Jane knew that he appreciated having another boy around to ruff-house with.

Even after a few days, it felt like Carlos belonged with the three of them.

-

 

It was eleven months into Jane's second year when she finally got the answer to how well or rather unwell Cruella treated kids especially her own, it wasn't a surprise to find out that Carlos had an awful mom.

Jane was experienced with Maleficent and Mal's own relationship at this point and even Jay and Jafar's, neither of them were what she would call loving or even remotely caring. The two of them had scars mostly mental in Mal's case and physical in Jay's, Jane understood both types of scars... but then again so did Carlos.

"Hello, is Carlos around?" The girl asked as soon as the door opened.

Jane and Jay had met up earlier while Mal sent some quality time with her mom and after waiting and waiting some more the two decided to go pick up Carlos.

"He's busy." That was all she'd said before swiftly slamming the door in the twos face, "Mother of the year material, isn't she?" Jay says sarcastically. Jane, however, looks around until she spots a window, "Come on we're going in." Jay simply follows without question.

The window is locked but no match for Jay's breaking and entering skills.

A brief time later the two of them are inside, Jane motions for Jay to be quiet as the two of them sneak around looking for Carlos. Careful not to let the devil lady see them they continue the search until Jay whispers, "He's not here..." The little girl stubbornly shakes her head, "He's here somewhere..." Is her quiet response.

The young thief doesn't agree though, "Maybe he ran into trouble are leaving, we should go look for him outside."

"Okay... but let me try something first, keep watch and don't talk." He raises an eyebrow but keeps his eyes peeled for Cruella. Jane, on the other hand, closes her eyes and concentrates, this was one spell she had been practicing but hadn't yet gotten but no time like the present to give it a go.

So, focusing on an image of Carlos inside her mind she tries the locator spell for a minute nothing happens but then she feels something like a tugging inside of her, opening her eyes she follows the feeling, "Where are you going?"

Jane doesn't answer instead she follows the feeling until it leads her to a closet. Jay looks at it confused but the girl just goes to open it only to find it locked, "Jay," He nods understanding she wants him to pick the lock he gets to work while she keeps an eye out.

Soon Jay gets it open and she pushes it open to see a very bruised a battered Carlos surrounded by what looks to be bear traps, not that Jane knows what those are but they are scary looking and look like mechanical jaws waiting to bite something, the something, in this case, being a someone; Carlos.

"Carlos, are you okay?" He jerks up seemly from a troubled sleep, how he could sleep sitting like that she didn't know... unless he was used to it.

"Come on we're here to get you outta here," Jay tells him, and the other boy shakes his head, "You have to go before she finds you!" Jane frowns, "Your mom put you in here didn't she?" He doesn't answer instead he says, "I can't leave anyways," His eyes find the bear traps before looking back up at them.

"We just need to find something to put in them," Jay says but the De Vil boy shakes his head, "She'll hear it." Jane looks at them and thinks, he could get through if they could just move three of them without making any sound... it wouldn't be easy, Jane just wasn't sure she could float more than one thing of that size.

Looking back at Carlos though she knew she had to at least try, she didn't want to leave him here.

"I'm going to move those three there then you can get out," He looks frightened, "No don't you'll get hurt... they hurt a lot." The whole conversation so far had been in whispered voices but as he said the last words his voice got even quieter and he winced as if recalling a particularly painful memory.

She understood those and had the scars; mostly on her back to remind her of them not that it's something that you forget she thinks angerly.

"I'll move them without touching them don't worry." Both boys look at her like she's crazy, but she ignores them, she could do this... if her mom could create a barrier big enough to cover an island surely, she could levitate three stupid bear traps without making them go off... right?

Jane just had to focus, will her power forth and remember her training... okay, maybe her solo training her training with Maleficent always caused her to lose her focus and give her nightmares...

 

No focus Jane, she tells herself.

The two watched on silently as slowly one by one the bear traps start to ascend and once they're high enough Jay motions for the boy, but he doesn't move so the bigger boy rushes forward and pulls the both of them out all the while Jane's forehead is breaking into a sweat and she's getting a headache.

"We're out let's go, Jane!" Jay exclaims and causes her attention to waver making the three bear traps fall, the noise causes Cruella to shout out and the three quickly take off towards the open window.

Somehow it all worked out the girl thinks happily as they jump through the window and keep running long after they need to.

Now if only her head would stop pounding so much... still, she did it! Her magic was getting stronger and for once she did something good with it!

Not that it mattered... she did much more bad with it, one good deed wouldn't erase all of that. Her happiness evaporated with that thought.

"Thanks, Jane!" Carlos said as they all finally stopped to catch their breath, "Sure..."

Jay looks at the two younger kids before speaking, "Come on I still have some bruise cream at the hideout." By hideout, he luckily didn't mean the dump she'd first been dragged to but the place that Mal found recently and claimed as her own, still the three of them were allowed to use it.

Carlos follows after Jay, but Jane takes a moment... she gets dizzy and her vision loses focus for a minute before she closes her eyes. The smaller boy notices her absence first and turns to look behind him to see her just standing there with her head tilted downwards.

He frowns, something wasn't right.

"Jane are you okay?" Carlos calls back, opening her eyes she looks at him, "I'm fine, let's go."

The brunette girl quickly jogs to his side and they both follow after Jay, but the bruised boy has always been pretty observant for his age and wonders just how true that is.

Could using her magic be hurting her somehow?

His eyes glance over at the girl briefly before she notices, "What is it?" He shakes his head, "Nothing."


	7. Jane's Thrid Year: Isle of the Lost Style (Evie)

It was just over three years now that Jane had been a part of the Isle of the Lost, many things had changed within that time. Jane had a new family, in Mal and kinda of sort of friends in Jay and Carlos though not really because friendship wasn't a thing on the Isle.

Secretly though Jane was beginning to doubt that, despite all of the bad memories she had obtained she was slowly building up some fond memories with her three best friends... yeah, she admitted it though not out loud that they were her friends. Friendship was supposedly weak but well not too many people would chance calling her that, she was after all Maleficent's little weapon.

Still burning flesh and breaking bones of people the evil fairy told her to but mostly she had grown immune to the smell of burnt flesh and the sound of bones snapping at least that's what she'd thought until Cruella ruthlessly stomped on Carlos' arm breaking it in front of her and Mal.

Jane felt sick to her stomach and wondered if she'd have trouble breaking bones again herself after seeing, hearing this... worse even than the breaking was his scream, she'd never heard him in pain before... the half-fairy didn't like it.

It was at times like that Jane wondered what good was power when she couldn't use it to help her friends, between the two of them they got him back to the hideout afterward and Mal began to splint his arm while Carlos tried not to cry out.

His face was so pained... Jane didn't know anything about how to fix wounds, not like Mal or even Jay, the two of them took care of themselves and her when it came down to the physical injuries.

Still, she wanted to help him somehow... but all she had to offer was her magic.

"I could set her fur coats on fire..." Jane offers getting a pained smile in return, "As f-funny as that m-might be for a-a second i-it wouldn't b-be worth it-" He winces and grunts in pain, "I-I'd be blamed e-even if I w-wasn't around..."

Jane frown, "Okay..." Even as the words left her mouth she promised herself that one day she'd burn all that crazy woman's fur... once Carlos was outside of her reach.

-

Carlos' arm was healing okay or as okay as it could with the ridiculous amount of chores he had to do, both Jay and Jane helped him with them when they could. When Jay wasn't busy stealing to stock his dad's store and Jane wasn't being taught under Maleficent's ever watchful eyes they were with him trying to lessen his load. Mal was the one who had the most time, but she was also the worst at chores, after only making things harder on him she just decided to keep him company when he did them when Jane and Jay weren't there.

One day Carlos snuck out while all three of his friends were busy it was a rare day for him to both be free from his mother and to be alone without any of his friends.

It was on this day he met an equally alone little blue-haired girl who had also escaped her controlling mother for the day.

Carlos thought he'd go to his tree house as he hadn't been recently since his friends hung out at Mal's hideout more often when they weren't running around wild in the markets and such.

In Evie's case, she thought to stay away from the market this time as she was less likely to get into trouble or be caught by her mother, although she was thankful for it last time this time she wanted to actually experience life outside of her castle's walls.

That's how she happened upon a hidden tree house, she'd never been inside one before actually outside of storybooks the little bluenette had never even seen one, it was amazing the eleven-year-old girl thought until a voice startled her from her thoughts, "Hey who are you?" Turning quickly, she sees a little boy, he's smaller than her and likely a little bit younger, that's not all one of his arms appears to be broken.

"I'm Evie, who are you?" He eyes her for a minute in thought before answering, "I'm Carlos and that's my tree house," he points up at the structure behind her with his good arm, "Oh well it's a nice tree house... actually it's the first one I've ever seen." She tells him, and he nods, "Yeah I don't think many people on the Isle bother with them."

"That's too bad... can I see inside of it?" He shrugs, "I don't see why not since you've already found your way here."

She smiles brightly at that but then stops quickly and the observant boy notices, "What's wrong?" She shakes her head, "Nothing, I just remembered that smiling causes wrinkles." He looks at her like she's from a different world, "Uh well I don't think kids can get wrinkles though, so it should be okay..."

She gasps, "I've never thought of it that way before!" She smiles again, and Carlos decides she might be even weirder than his friends which is saying something, but he still leads her up to his tree house, it wasn't as easy with only one arm, but he'd been getting used to it, so the young De Vil managed it.

The two spent the day in the tree house playing around with the electronics that Carlos had scrapped together and just talking, one thing was for sure this little girl had been really lonely before she met him.

Just like how he'd been before he met Jane and then Jay and Mal through her.

-

A new trend started after that anytime Evie could sneak out she'd find herself at Carlos' tree house, he wouldn't always be there as he couldn't always leave his house either and also because he had other friends.

Evie was nervous about meeting his friends so for the time being it was just them when they were both available.

That went on for just over four months until the day she was heading to the tree house only to see Carols in the market and he wasn't alone, in fact, he was with two people she wasn't too fond of.

Maleficent's daughter and the other girl... the ones that threw rotten fruit at her, the ones she was sure framed her for the theft that first time she'd snuck out.

Why was Carlos with them, were they going to pick on him too? She didn't want that to happen, but she also didn't have the courage to face them, so the blue-haired girl hid and observed.

It didn't take long for her to notice her original suspicion was wrong, they were friends that much was obvious. Why would someone as sweet as Carlos be around them though? It didn't make any sense to her.

So, she did the only thing she could think of Evie left and went back home angry, confused, and sad.

It would be another month and a half before Evie got lonely enough to try and seek out her friend again, only he wasn't at the tree house any of the times she could get away for the next several weeks.

By the time they both saw each other again, it was well over two months since Evie had last seen Carlos.

She was just about to give up again and leave the tree house when a familiar voice calls out shocked, "Evie?" There he was at the entrance to the tree house looking nearly the same as the last time she saw him when she saw him with her bullies.

Tears start to fall and Carlos panics, "What's wrong?" She quickly wipes away her tears taking some of her make up with it, "I-I saw you with you-your friends." He looks confused, "I don't get it..."

"You're friends with Mal... and her friends." He nods before a look of comprehension crosses his face, "I know people talk about them, but they aren't really that scary, they're just kids like us." Evie doesn't know whether to breath a sigh of relief that he doesn't know about how mean they are to her or be upset that he doesn't realize they are as bad as people think.

"They... don't like me." Carlos looks confused again, "What do you mean? I didn't think they knew you..." Looking down at her feet she looks sad, "They don't but Mal and the other girl like to throw things at me when I stand in front of the window and I think they framed me for stealing before and all my clothes went missing only to turn up covered in paint... I know it was them somehow."

Carlos looked stunned, "Jane did that?"

The De Vil kid wasn't stupid he knew Mal had a mean streak and both Jay and Jane could easily get inside somewhere and steal something like clothes but still... Jane didn't go out of her way to be mean or cruel to people at least not from what he knew.

It just didn't seem like his friend at all.

"I don't know her name... but yeah." The boy wasn't sure what to think but he knew one thing, "Don't worry I'll talk to them it's probably all just a misunderstanding."

Her face held doubt, "I know we could go now I planned on seeing them in a little while anyway." Evie's expression turned scared, "I dunno."

"Come on it'll be okay, I'll be there." He grins and so the girl reluctantly agrees.

The two end up getting to the meeting place first and it wears on Evie's nerves until the two girls she wanted to see least show up first. They both arrived together more often than not but it was a surprise to see Carlos there first and not only that but with a certain bluenette that the two of them had a not so pleasant history with.

Jane glances at Mal uneasy knowing her dislike for the girl and then her blue eyes find Carlos and the girl beside him, the brunette wasn't sure what she'd do if this lead to an argument amongst the friends as usually they all got on pretty good.

Jay didn't like conflict given his home life, so he was more of a go with the flow friend, Carlos was nice and not prone to disagreement which may have to do something with him never being able to disagree with his mother and finally Mal... she was the leader.

What Mal said went, if she wanted to do something they followed. Jane could still recall a time when Mal didn't like her, maybe even hated her... she didn't want things to go back to that way so when it came to the girl she was more of a pushover than with the boys.

Jane's right hand finds her beaded bracelet on her left wrist as her nerves get the better of her, it was a tell that no one noticed but her so far and she knew she needed to break it before they did but well she was hardly a bundle of nerves around her friends so it wasn't a real problem for the moment.

But if Carlos actually tried to confront Mal on her behavior what would Jane do? She twists her bracelet anxiously. She didn't want to choose sides... could she even pick one?

"What is the pampered princess wanna be doing here?" Mal asks Carlos ignoring the bluenette, Carlos' fist clench and he glares at Mal before glancing at Jane as if expecting something from her, but she says nothing to his disappointment.

In fact, it's not just his, Mal's eyes also drift to her for backup. Both of them seem to want to different reactions from her but her silence disappoints the both of them and that hurts the blue-eyed girl.

Her wrist still has a recent burn mark and playing with her braclet isn't helping but the slight throb helps the hurt she feels from disappointing them so she doesn't stop twisting it.

"She's here because she's my friend and I wanted her to meet the rest of my friends." He tells the purple-haired girl, Jane winces and knows what Mal is going to say before she says it and not wanting to hurt Carlos anymore she lets go of her own wrist to grab Mal's hand.

Mal closes her mouth and glances at the girl beside her and Jane just shakes her head, the girl frowns and yanks her hand back.

"You seem to be mistaken then we're not your friends, friendship is weak. Just because we spend time together doesn't mean anything, and if you'd rather spend your time with little miss perfect princess there then be my guest." With that Mal turns heel and leaves.

Jane doesn't follow though she looks at Carlos' crushed face and instead feels unreasonably upset with the bluenette who's trying to comfort him, she wants to blame her even if that wouldn't be fair.

Her hand grabs her own wrist again tightly, so much that she thinks the blister might have busted but she pays it no mind.

"Jane! Come on!" She snaps out of her thoughts to look towards Mal who is quite a ways away from them now but still able to shout her order at the other girl.

Jane hadn't felt so conflicted in a long time. "Jane..." Carlos' voice has her turning back to him and seeing his eyes knows she has to try and fix this somehow, "Mal...she doesn't mean it... she's just repeating her mother is all, it's not actually what she thinks... she's lashing out because she's mad it's what Mal does."

Though Carlos hasn't had the privilege before now of seeing her anger at work.

"Jane!" Mal shouts again and Jane looks back at her feeling torn before looking back to Carlos and his 'friend' who she hurt more than once.

"You don't have to listen to her." Evie finally tells the girl before her after witnessing her struggle, the girl's eyes leave Carlos and find the other girl's eyes. "Yes, I do... Mal used to hate me." Carlos looks surprised as he'd witnessed how close the two girls where it seemed impossible.

Evie though looked confused by the confession, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I live with her... and I can't deal with her hating me again even if it meant being mean to somebody," Her eyes dart to Evie's before going back to Carlos, "that didn't deserve it so that she would stop being mean to me..." Mal calls out one final time and Jane knows this is her last chance otherwise Mal will be unbearable to live with until she gets over it and who knew when that'd be.

"Sorry..." Jane says before fleeing and joining Mal who grabs her arm tightly dragging her away without any protest from the brunette.

Jay shows up a few minutes later to find an upset best friend and a girl he vaguely recalls helping to steal clothes from a few months back, "Um, what did I miss?"

Carlos glares before laughing a sad laugh, "Seriously what did I miss?" He turns to the girl, she decides to have pity on the confused boy and tell him.

"Hmm, well that sounds like Mal she'll be upset for a while but well it's like Jane said she was horrid to her once upon a time so if you can forgive Mal like Jane once she gets over herself then everything should be fine." Evie doesn't know how to respond to that, did she want to forgive Mal? Or even Jane for that matter?

"Was Mal really that mean to Jane?" Carlos questions uncertainly, "Oh yeah I still remember her running away willing to face Maleficent's wrath just to get away from Mal's so-called pranks... it wasn't pretty she's got a vicious streak. I'm still amazed Jane forgave her for all that... actually, now that I think about it I'm more curious what happened to make Mal do a one-eighty like that."

Carlos felt like he had more than enough revelations for the day he just wanted to go and crawl into his pallet in the closet and sleep for a long time until everything started to make sense again.

-

The rest of the year was an adjustment period for the five kids' friendship.

Carlos and Evie were good friends and the two of them forgave Jane for her part in the bullying. Carlos and Mal took longer to get back to normal after the whole 'we're not friends' bit she'd spat in anger. Jay got on with everyone and Mal went from ignoring Evie to tolerating the girl.

It was a start though the two never thought they'd be true friends it seemed to them that they'd merely accept the other would always be around because of their mutual friends.

The events of the next year though would prove to once again change the dynamic of the five friends' relationship.


	8. Jane’s Fourth Year: The Isle of the Lost Style (Too Nice)

Four years had passed, and Jane didn’t think about how much time it had been since she’d come to the Isle any longer. Jane didn’t think of Auradon much let alone the people living there, her mother included.

Jane was an Isle girl now.

As such, she wasn’t nice, not surprising seeing as she regularly tortures people for Maleficent and has for years now. The sound of bones snapping still bugs her so if she can avoid it she burns them, burning fleshing isn’t so bad… she has many burns of her own, her wrists and her back have the scars to prove it.

Rarely does she get new ones anymore unless Maleficent is in a particularly bad mood and even then, she’d rather have Jane burn others than herself so that’s a good thing… or is it a bad thing?

Jane wasn’t sure she knew but if it kept her from feeling the flames then it couldn’t be too bad.

Maleficent seems to enjoy fire magic the most, that’s probably why it’s some of the half-fairy’s strongest magic. That, of course, is a problem in and of itself because fire won’t bring down the barrier.  
Sometimes the dark fairy makes her practice breaking things; glass, stone, and bones. The sound of things breaking bothers her and makes her magic not as effective.

Luckily the evil fairy thinks she just needs more practice with it, so practice she does.

Because Jane like the not so good girl that she is doesn’t argue.

-

That's why one day when it's just Jane and Carlos hanging out- which never happens very often. She notices something that the villainous girl knew but never thought too much on before now.

Carlos stole like they did but only when he was hungry, or they asked him to help them, he played non-malicious pranks but only if the group was pulling pranks too… he was a follower like her, but he was nothing like her.

"There I think that'll hold for a bit." The old man doesn't thank him, but Carlos just grins and bounces back over to where she was standing since he decided to help splint the old man's arm.

He helped people when he could… if he could. He wasn't bad or evil or even just mean.

He was good.

Why was this such a shocking thought even Gil could be kind but maybe that's because he lacked the brain power to be bad without someone telling him to be?

Still, Carlos didn't belong here.

Because it was official, Carlos was nothing like anyone else she knew, of course, Jane knew it long before now, but now she was going to actually say it aloud because she needed to.

"You're too nice for the Isle." Carlos stops whatever he was talking about that she hadn't been listening to and blinks as if stunned before saying, "So are you…" Jane smiles slightly, "No… I'm not," Carlos nearly protests but she changes the direction of the conversation, "You know most people here would be insulted at being called nice, it's a good thing meaning that it's a bad thing to be."

He just shrugs it off and grins at her, "Well don't tell anyone or you'll ruin my reputation." He jokes.

Jane didn't need to tell anyone, she was sure that everyone knew.

Carlos was different.

But Jane was more than okay with that.

-

"Okay everyone gather around!" Evie motions for the group to gather at the table-like thing set up inside of Carlos' treehouse where the five of them are currently residing.

"What do you want now?" Mal asks moodily only to be for the most part ignored as she takes a seat next to a bouncing in place Carlos who asks excitedly, "So you finished them?"

"Yes, I did." Evie smiles brilliantly at him and Jane feels momentarily angry at how happy she is, the princess is horrible with hiding her emotions thus her smile must be real, and Jane inwardly admits to being jealous of that happiness but hides it well enough to ask, "You mean those drawings you were doing?"

Every time they saw her lately she was sketching something or rather more than one thing if the amount of paper was anything to go by.

"What did you draw?" Jay asks and instead of answering she shows them by spreading the papers around so that they can all see them.

"Are these drawings of clothes?" Jane's the first to ask and that's all it takes for Evie to explain to them.

"Yes, I designed them with all of you in mind, I mean I can always change some things if you really want me to, but I think each one has the personality of the one I was thinking of in mind." Carlos picks his up first and looks it over, "Cool so your actually gonna make this?" She nods, "Sweet!" Jay shouts and snatches up his design, "Can mine lose the sleeves?" Evie blinks at him questionably before he flexes his growing muscles showing off, Mal rolls her eyes and the blue-haired princess giggles.

"Sure, I can do that." Then she turns to Mal, "What about you anything you want to change Mal?"

For a moment she says nothing before getting up and walking over to the stairs leading to the exit of the treehouse, "You can keep it I don't need new clothes." Then she proceeds to climb down the stairs as the other girl looks down sadly.

Jane decides to speak up then, "For Mal that was a pretty tame response I think you're growing on her."

None of them seem to believe the brunette so she speaks up again after picking up the drawing meant for her, "So this one is mine, right?" Evie nods and looks as if she's waiting for the other girl to tell her she has no plans to wear it either.

"It's not colored like everyone else's."

"Oh well you don't really wear a particular color and you've said you don't have any parents so um… I was going to ask you do you maybe have a favorite color?"

Did she? No Jane just wore whatever usually Mal's hand me downs because she was younger, it wasn't really her style before but now she didn't really have one or recall her style from before.

"I never really thought about it." The other girl nods, "Well there's no rush-"

"What about green?" Carlos asks while pointing to her wrist, "I've never seen you without that green bracelet before, so you like it right?"

Jane's eyes find her wrist where her emerald beaded bracelet rested, he was right she never took them off. Mal got it for her as a birthday gift, the only one she's had since her arrival on the Isle. Jane never thought much about the color, but green was as good as any and the beads helped her hide her brunt wrist pretty well when she didn't wear long sleeves.

"Yeah, I like it." Evie smiles and claps, "Okay I'll use that as a starting point and see what goes good with that, I'm sure you'll look great."

The younger girl just nods at the more fashion-conscious girl's enthusiasm.

The rest of the day is spent chilling at Carlos' treehouse and talking about fashion when eventually leads to hair talk and that in turn leads to the girl's discovery of Curl Up & Dye with Mal a few days later.

Mal decides to get her hair styled with the girls but the subject of wearing the clothes that Evie plans to make is not brought up.

-

Today wasn't a usual day by any means because even though Mal had just left Jane with Jay while she went to get what was needed to patch up Jay that was normal. At least once a month either Jay or Carlos would need it.

Luckily since Carlos joined none of Jane's own punishments or training lessons got so bad as to need someone else to help her. Evie, on the other hand, had yet to be around while this went on, so she was still blissfully unaware of the other children's parent's cruelty.

The Evil Queen would never raise a hand to her daughter, damaging her skin was just not something she could or would do. That didn't make her a good parent by any means as what she was doing to her own daughter mentally wasn't healthy from what Jane could see.

Still, if she wanted to talk about emotional abuse none could tough what Maleficent did to Mal, though maybe it's just because Jane was around to witness that abuse. The evil fairy hardly struck out at Mal, a bit of rough handling here or there a smack to the face but Mal was closer to Evie when it came down to it.

Jane was like Carlos and Jay well it was hard to say how much emotional damage the once genie did because it's hard to get past Jay's walls. The physical evidence and the default attitude probably meant he was closer to them though.

The girl's sky-blue eyes watched his limp form and wondered why she was even contemplation this stuff to begin with. Jane hated thinking about it, so why was she?

Suddenly a cough reaches her ears, "Oh you're awake? Don't move Mal went to get some things to fix you up."

The coughing stops after a moment, "He got you good this time…" Jane sighs. 

If only her magic could heal… but there's no books about healing on the Isle though.

Not that her magic would probably be capable of good at this point even if she tired.

"Do you hate her?"

Jane is startled for a minute, what was he talking about? She decides to take a guess.

"Maleficent?" He nods before grimacing at the pain the movement caused him. Jane thinks about the question seriously, her default answer should be something along the lines of, 'yes' but was that the truth?

Another moment of soul searching gives her the answer she's looking for, "No one's ever asked me that before… have you ever tried hating someone you live with? It's tiring. No, I don't hate her… I don't like her and… she scares me most of the time but…"

Her voice trails off and for a minute she thinks he's passed back out again.

"But what?"

Jane is suddenly uncomfortable and wondering why she's opening up to him, maybe because he's in such a state and probably won't recall anything they talk about… and maybe just maybe she wants to talk about it.

"She once told me… she's the closest thing I've got to a mother… and in a way she's right." The brunette looks down at her hands, "She's an awful mother, seeing her with Mal would tell anyone that but… it's either her or living on the streets which she wouldn't allow I know because I've tried… it's not because she cares about what happens to me but because I'm useful… or I will be someday, in a way it's like Mal… so yeah she's not wrong in her thinking."

They don't say anything, what more is there to say on the subject.

Not long after Mal arrives and Jane follows her instructions where she can, and the two girls fix up Jay, at least as much as they can on the outside. Inside Jane knows it's a whole other subject, no one will probably ever be able to heal him in there.

-

The next time Jay sees Evie he plays off his wounds and despite her worry, she believes his pretty lies which has Mal roll her eyes and Carlos go quiet and then the group moves on with their lives as much as they can until the next thing event that comes along for them to face separately and together.

Together the group is mostly content and even sometimes happy but separately their issues are taring each of them apart, but they rarely share that with one another.

It's a weakness to do so that's what they're taught.

And some things are just too painful to share.

So, some things they never share, sure they have ideas and hear rumors but none of them really knows everything.

Everyone knows Jay steals for his dad, some know that his dad has a temper that he unleashes on his son. No one knows that Jay saw his father beat his mother to death when he was four and has built a wall and mask to hide his true emotions ever since. If he lets someone in they might die too, his father might kill them.

Everyone knows Evie is overprotected, some know the things her own mother feeds her about her own self-worth and how she's nothing more than a pretty face. What no one knows that in a desperate bid to be free that Evie had prepared some poison for herself before deciding to take one last trip outside; where she met Carlos and who changed her mind.

Carlos is his mother's personal slave it's pretty much a fact that everyone knows, some people know she's crazy, but most don't understand how deep her insanity goes and no one but Carlos has witnessed just how insane she truly is. Carlos' biggest fear isn't dogs he's afraid that his mother's insanity is inside him too, but he'll never tell anyone because other people knowing is also a fear of his.

Mal is Maleficent's daughter what else do people need to know really, she's just like her mother well that's what people see and believe but the truth of the matter is Maleficent's goal outside of being free from the Isle is to make Mal into her and some people including Mal understand this. What no one knows is that Mal doesn't know who she is if she isn't her mother.

Jane is an unknown to most but nearly everyone knows Maleficent has a magical pawn willing and able to hurt whoever she wants to hurt. Mal is the only one who's seen what her mother makes Jane do aside from those who have been tortured themselves but no one aside from Jane and the evil fairy herself know that more than once a burn got infected and a bone punctured something it shouldn't have… only they know that her magic had led some to death… that she's killed. Jane knows she's not good, not nice… she's a monster and only Jane understands that.

-

Evie had just finished up all of the group's outfits well aside from Mal who still didn't want one and was happily wearing her own new dress that she had designed and sewn. Cooking, cleaning, sewing all the things a good wife and future queen should know how to do.

For now, though her thoughts were on her friends, so the princess carefully bags up the clothes and sneaks out at the first opportunity later that day.

First stop is Carlos' house and that goes about as well as can be expected with the two running away from his screaming mother.

"That was… unpleasant." Evie says after she catches her breathe, "Yeah…" Carlos laughs dully, "So why did you come and risk my mom's wrath for anyway?"

"This!" She holds out her bag and he looks at it, "Uhm…?"

"Oh right," she looks around for a place to sit down and when she does Carlos follows and they both are seated as she rummages through her bag and pulls out the clothes she was looking for, "here these are yours." He takes them gently, "Wow, thanks."

"Well try them on?" The girl says, and he looks around, "Here?"

"Oh, um okay let's find somewhere for you to change… I guess your house isn't an option is it?" She enquires, and he quickly shakes his head, "Not a chance."

Eventually, they both decide to go to Jay's and give him his outfit and have Carlos change there before going to see Mal and Jane.

Jay is thrilled at his new outfit and Evie smiles seeing both of the boys in the clothes that she made for them. Shortly after they make their way to Maleficent's lair-like house.

Once there they hear screams that startle them but none so more than Evie who rushes inside, "Wait!" Jay shouts and looks torn on if he should go after her or not but seeing Carlos go after her leaves him no other choice.

He just knows he'll regret this.

The three dash down the halls and past an alarmed Mal who calls out to them, "Stop! Where are you going?"

"Damn it!" Mal yells before giving chase and trying to stop them before they reach the torture chamber.

She doesn't succeed though and Evie bursts in through the already open door with Carlos right behind her and the two freeze at the sight before them.

A young man dangling in the air above a fire whose arm is bent in an angle that is obviously broken and who legs are already burnt pretty badly despite being just outside the flames reach but that's not all.

Maleficent is perched in the corner with some crackers and a drink watching while Jane is in the center of the room.

Jane is the one torturing the man.

Her back is to them so she's unaware that they are in the room but Maleficent is not and she smirks before clapping her hands once to signal to Jane to lower the man with reach of the flames again and the girl does, and the man screams as the smell of burning flesh becomes stronger and Evie thinks she's going to be sick.

Carlos, on the other hand, can't take it, he doesn't believe it and lets out a strangled sound just as Jay and Mal arrive.

Jane heard the noise and barely manages to hold her concentration enough to keep the man floating as she turns her head but that's when the concentration snaps at seeing her friend's faces, their expressions, the horror, disgust, the fear.

The man falls into the fire and screams as Maleficent laughs and the others scream as well but Jane panics and tries to put out the fire, but it doesn't work because she's distracted so instead she tries to pull him out of the fire only to burn her hands in the process before the only one still thinking straight steps in.

Mal grabs the bucket of water that's always kept in the corner of the room for an emergency and pours it on the burning man and Jane's hands before dropping the bucket and pulling Jane away as the man lays on the floor burnt and sobbing.

Jane stares at the man and does her best not to shake or look over her shoulders at her friends.

The only other sound is Maleficent's laughter.

It's been a long time since Jane has been afraid but now she is, her friends are villains but she's the monster among them. And now they know it…

Mal is beside her because she's the one who told Jane to give in years ago and do what she had to do, rarely did the purple haired girl witness this much, it was usually only the screams.

She was the one there for Jane when she was hurt for defying her mother, the one who was there for her when she gave in and tortured someone for the first time, was there when she broke down because of it and was unknowingly there when she broke down because her actions killed someone.

Mal was far from perfect but she was there.

And she was still beside her even as Jane heard the footsteps behind her flee.

"Come on… let me take care of your hands."

Jane followed her numbly and let her do just that, all the while she didn't feel a thing.

The panic was gone. It had been extinguished with the flames.

Later that night she couldn't sleep but she laid in bed anyway and Mal was curled up right beside her as if to comfort here.

She didn't deserve comfort.

But the part of her that wasn't so numb anymore appreciated the gesture.

-

The next few days were some of the worst Jane had ever had and that was saying something given the numerous bad days the girl has had in her short life.

Mal didn't leave her at first worried about her state of mind especially around her mother who thought the whole thing hilarious and kept bringing it up, mostly her friends shocked and horrified faces.

Eventually, though Mal had to go talk to them and try to get them to understand no the half-fairy would make them understand. The other girl was her sister and what she was doing might have terrified Mal as well, but it wasn't her fault and she would make them see that.

Unfortunately, Evie was inside her castle and Jay nowhere to be found and Carlos was at home clearing his mother's furs so Mal had to wait for another chance to talk to them.

A similar pattern happened two more times and before they knew it nearly two weeks had passed this way.

By this point Mal knew they were avoiding her and Jane was there but at the same time, she wasn't. She was more closed off than the green-eyed girl thought possible.

It was Mal's job to fix this.

First, she just had to find out how.

It was a few days later when a frustrated Mal came home to find an equally frustrated mother, "Mal you talk some sense into that girl upstairs!" She all but shouts and suddenly Mal is scared.

"Why… what did she do?"

"The ungrateful brat refused to do as I told her!" The dark fairy fumed.

There were only two things Maleficent ever told the other half-fairy to do, one was practice magic and the other was to use it on others.

"I'll go see her now." Mal does her best not to run up the stairs and act calm, while she's sure her mother knows she cares about Jane the pre-teen knows she has to be careful not to give away how much because then her mother has something to use against her, against them.

Upstairs she finds a sight she's not seen in a very long time.

"Jane you promised!" She rushes to the girl's side and starts to peel off the brunt top as carefully as possible and the other girl did her best to hold back her cries.

"Look at you… it was just your left shoulder area before but now your whole back will be scared… idiot why didn't you listen to her."

"I-I couldn't… I c-can't." Mal barely heard the whisper, "You promised you would though…"

Mal knew it was wrong to use that but she had to get things back to normal because really the girl couldn't take any more of her mother's punishments.

"…I-I'm sorry." It was even harder to hear than before.

"I think we have a bit more burn paste in my dresser I'll go get and some water you just try to sleep."

Maybe she had some painkillers too but that wasn't likely, Jay could probably get them… if he wasn't avoiding her. Suddenly she's beyond mad and wants to punch someone but settles for the wall inside because it was there.

She keeps at it until her knuckles are bleeding and then she quickly gets her emotions under control cleans the blood off of her hand and wraps it so as not to get any of her own blood into Jane's wounds.

After that, she gets the water finds the burn cream right where she left it and sadly there's very little left she realizes.

That night she does he best to keep the other girl from getting an infection and bring down her fever.

Mal doesn't sleep a wink for the next forty-eight hours.

So, when she is sure that the girl can be left alone for a bit the extremely exhausted and all-around pissed off fairy tracks down Jay and this time she's not letting him get away from her.

He tries at first when he catches a glimpse of her but she's way too angry and sleep deprived to let him have his way and, in the end, corners him.

"Mal? What happened you look awful…" Jay says once he finally gets a look at her, "Screw you too, I need burn cream and a lot of it asap as of yesterday so why are you still standing here?"

He looks uncomfortable for a moment before speaking, "I don't think it'll help that guy at this point…"

Mal looks confused before letting out a huff, "You're right dead people don't need things." He twitched a bit at confirming his suspicions, but she continued, "I need it for Jane so cough it up."

"For… Jane?" He looked confused and then worried, "Right… I'll get some."

Mal nodded before turning to leave, "Wait… what about the cream?"

"I don't suppose you have it on you now?" He shakes his head, "Then I need to get back to Jane, bring it over when you get it." She doesn't wait for his reply.

-

Mal is more than half asleep when Jane wakes but she bolts right up when she feels the girl shift.

"You're awake that's good… I'll have some more burn cream soon so-" Jane stops her by simply saying, "I don't need it…"

"Tell that to your back…" Mal scoffs but the girl slowly sits up but is stopped, "Lay back down right now do you have any idea how bad you look?"

"…As bad as you?" She replies, "I'm not joking!"

"Neither am I… you need to sleep." Jane's voice lacked any emotion but from the words, Mal could tell she was worried now if only she could use some of that on herself.

"I will when you lay back down." The brunette listens, "Now when my mom makes you make it up to her in a few days' time you-"

"I can't…" Was this similar to the conversation years earlier does she need to try and guilt trip her, Mal would do it if that's what it took.

"Yes, you can!" The green-eyed girl countered.

"No-"

"Yes!" Mal wouldn't let her win this battle it was too important.

"You don't understand!" Jane exclaims with her emotion finally pouring through after weeks of closing it off and as a result, her sky-blue eyes fill up with tears.

"I do too if you don't do what she says she'll go overboard and accidentally kill you!" There the other girl said it what she feared since the first time Jane refused her mother, Maleficent's temper was not something to play with and even though she knew her mom didn't want to kill the girl because she was useful she might kill her in a fit of rage.

"…I know." Her voice was soft as if she was giving up but Mal had no plans to let that happen.

"So, then you know you have to-" Jane shook her head before looking straight into tired green eyes and explaining, "I… can't use magic anymore."

"You what?"

This wasn't what she expected to hear.

"…I've tried but it's not working… I can't so much as levitate a pencil." Mal was frightened.

What did this mean… "Since when?"

Mal's throat felt dry and she was lightheaded.

"…After he fell I tried to lift him back up, but I couldn't concentrate…"

Mal knew this she was there, "So then you haven't been able to concentrate since then?"

"I have… I cleared my mind… took deep breathes and everything… it's just gone." Jane did her best to explain after all the other girl read all of her theory and magic books to even if she couldn't use her own magic Mal was competitive enough to not want to be behind on the knowledge part as well.

Mal thought for a moment before finally coming to a conclusion, "No… I don't think it is."

"What do you mean?" Jane questions, "You said you cleared your mind, but your emotions are clouded, aren't they?"

Jane couldn't deny that but there was a problem with her theory, "My magic isn't emotion-based though."

"Who said?" Mal demanded.

"I… I have to stop feeling to do what Maleficent wants so it can't be." The girl shakes her head, "You don't stop feeling things you just push them to the back of your mind, I'll bet there's something that you feel when you use fire."

Jane draws a blank so Mal continues, "What about when you break something? Feel anything then?"

It reminds her of Carlos' arm breaking a sound she hated, "…I don't like it."

"Dislike is a feeling… I didn't say your magic used positive feelings." Mal pointed out.

"…Then why can't I use it now… I'm not feeling positive at all." That was an understatement.

"I don't know everything or anything really when it comes to this emotional stuff but if it's your emotions blocking your magic then it's through them that you can use it again."

Jane sighs and Mal crawls into bed beside her, "Let's sleep on it?"

Closing her eyes in agreement she eventually drifts off.

-

Later her ears pick up familiar voices speaking in hushed tones, but she can't pinpoint whose voices until Jane's consciousness becomes more aware and once it does she sits up too fast resulting in crying out from the pain. Right her back is burnt badly… she should remember that in the future her mind tells her before it also realizes that the voices stopped.

"Why are you sitting up?"

She tempted to tell Mal she needs another bathroom break just to annoy her but suddenly her eyes catch another person, it's Jay?

Why is he here?

Oh, the burn cream Mal mentioned that must be it she thinks before carefully covering back up, so she doesn't have to see him.

Jane wants to forget but then a new voice speaks out, "Jane?"

Carlos?

Why is he here? He looked terrified of her… he can't be here.

She doesn't move or say anything, staying under the covers while slightly painful sounded like the best choice right now. "Jane you're going to aggravate the burns that way," Jay tells her, and she briefly wonders why he cares.

"Jane… I brought you something." Evie too?

She didn't want to see them.

They would look at her as if she was a monster… she was a monster, but Jane didn't want them to look at her like one.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she stubbornly remained under the covers until a familiar hand came underneath and lifted them off of her head and back and due to her position and lack of strength in her grip at the moment she couldn't stop him.

"…Jane?" Carlos asked again, it was true she scared him the other day but seeing her hurt like this with her back covered in burns and some were old… he had to say something, but he wasn't good with words so for a minute he didn't say anything.

In the meantime, the girl took comfort in the fact that while she was on her stomach her face could remain in the pillow if she wanted it to well for a bit and then, unfortunately, she would have to breathe but maybe he'd leave before then… she didn't want to see his face and see that expression again.

It hurt.

They weren't supposed to know.

"I'm sorry… I was scared but I know that's not you I mean yeah it was… you but man I'm so bad at this! A little help guys?" He glances at the others and Mal motions for him to continue and he sighs, "I-I know you didn't want to, I do and if this is what happens when you don't then… I get it kinda… we all do in a way, it's not the same but… all of us has something we don't like about our lives, stuff we don't want to talk about. Right…?" He looks back at everyone again.

Jay nods, "Yeah despite Carlos' crappy speech skills he's got something right… we're all messed up in our own way. I've got daddy issues," Then he points at Carlos, "he's got mama ones," His tone was joking at those words but they all knew it was true even him as his voice takes a slightly less humorous one when he continues, "but that's why we all get each other, right?"

"Right!" A bubbly voice adds, and Jane recognizes it as Evie, she's trying too hard again and for some reason that makes Jane let out a halfhearted laugh but due to lack of oxygen her head as to turn and she catches sight of Carlos' eyes first but then the others were there too.

They're all here… they came back even though she's a monster…

With that thought, her tears start to flow freely and the sobs rack her small frame which in turn hurts her burns but all in all it's not a bad feeling.


	9. Jane’s Fifth Year: The Isle of the Lost Style (Rotten)

Shortly after Jane's worst punishment to date and her friends coming back to her, she found her magic slowly returning though the half-fairy had another idea of what powered her magic and she didn't think it was emotion based like Mal had suggested.

Because like it or not when she set things or people ablaze she didn't feel anything.

Jane knew she could suppress her feelings and still use magic so what else could be the source? It hit her then that when she broke bones her thoughts drifted to Carlos when his mother broke his arm and it both sickened and angered her, but she did her best not to feel that when casting the spell and then there's fire…

As passionate as some people the element is it brings forth nothing from her except the memory of being burnt herself as punishment, but she no longer fears that and as such that throws the emotion-based magic theory under the bus so to speak but she does have memories with fire and memories with the sound of bones breaking.

That's why Jane thinks it memory-based, the stronger the memory, the more vivid, the better she is at the spell… it would make complete sense why her firepower is so strong as she knows what it feels like to be burning, the smell of burning flesh, everything… she's never broken a bone that's something she's experienced second hand so her magic to break things is not as thorough.

Things like levitation and color changing spells are simple but she doesn't have anything memory that would make it possible to say change a whole room green or levitate more than a few things at once well not without a major headache and strain put on her magic. As for her tracking spell, it's only better because it requires her to think about who or what she's tracking in detail the more detailed the memory the easier… quicker she's able to find who or what she's searching for.

This is only a theory, but it makes more sense than emotion.

Jane is convinced that her emotions have no sway over her or her magic in any way what so ever.

She will find out years later that she's only half right.

-

The five of them were together causing trouble for their fellow villains by destroying stalls and stealing things and just plain being bad because they could, and it was expected of them.

The name calling was always there, and their ears would pick up various words and phrases that they've become used to over time such as Rotten: it was directed at them all, Freak: was mostly for Mal, dirty no-good: was aimed at Jay, Jane, Carlos, and Evie didn't have anything that was purely them yet but give it time they thought.

Back at Mal's hideout, she was eating a stolen apple while Jay was looking at the loot he recently scored when, "Uck," The purple haired girl spits out the bite she just took, "What's wrong?" Evie asks taking her eyes away from her designs just as Jay looks away from his goods while Carlos just continues tinkering and Jane reading.

"This apple is rotten!" She throws said apple onto the floor as Jay snorts, "Of course it is Mal." The girl glares, "I mean more so than usual, it's rotten to the core!"

"Then why'd you have such a tough time eating it?" Carlos asks not looking up from his gadget, "Are you saying I'm rotten to the core?" Mal asks standing up from the couch and towering over Carlos who is on the floor working on something the group doesn't understand, that is why Jay's dubbed him as a tech nerd.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it!" Evie said trying to calm the situation down.

"I wasn't asking you E, I was talking to Carlos." Evie seemed put down, but Jane briefly looked up from her book wondering if she was the only one who noticed the nickname drop Mal had just made.

It looked like it.

Carlos felt his palms start to sweat so he put down what he was fiddling with, so he didn't drop it, after the boy looks up into Mal's glaring eyes that seemed almost to be glowing when suddenly she smirked, "You're right."

"Um, what?" The duel-colored haired boy asks, "You're right I'm Rotten to the Core."

Jay laughed, "That so? Well, I can be just as rotten as you may be more so did you hear those vendors today I'm sure their words were aimed mostly at me." He bragged.

Mal snorts, "As if I'm the rottenest one here."

"Not a chance." Jay argues, "Try me!?" Mal spouts back.

Jane rolls her eyes over the top of her book, "Why don't we just agree that your both rotten and move on?"

They don't seem to hear her words though and Carlos looks on in disbelief before looking to Evie, "They do realize that they're fighting over who's the most rotten don't they?" The bluenette frowns before looking over at Jane who is looking at Carlos with a frown on her face too for some reason.

Suddenly Evie smiles and claps, "That's it!" This gets the two arguing teens attention, "What's what?" Mal asks crossing her arms over her chest.

Evie's sweet smile suddenly turns into a smirk, "We're all Rotten to the Core."

"…I guess I could dig that." Jay grins.

"Hey, are we including me in this? Who said I wanna be rotten?" Carlos said but his protest was ignored and thus he eventually accepted his status as rotten as well.

Jane said nothing… it was silly, but it was something they now shared as a group, just the five of them so that made it special.

-

Carlos was doing it again and Jane wanted to scream or light something on fire or maybe even try blowing something up. Maybe Evie… because…

He was staring at Evie… again.

Why did he keep looking at her like that and laughing with her and grabbing her hand whenever they had to run… why didn't he hold her hand, he used to so when did he stop doing that?

It was Evie's fault.

So, Jane glared at the princess wannabe and was in a foul mood for the rest of the day… at least she finally got the spell to blow things up to work for her to bad she couldn't use it on Evie.

-

It was the four of them today because Jay was elsewhere doing whatever he did when he wasn't with them, but Janae's mind wasn't on Jay. Her book had been lying untouched in her lap for several minutes now but only Mal noticed, but the younger girl wasn't aware of this either because her eyes were only on Carlos and Evie…

Jane suddenly stood up causing her book to fall to the floor with a thump that went unnoticed by her and so the talking and laughing ceased as two sets of eyes landed on her. Carlos was the one who spoke up, "Jane?" Her eyes had been on Evie until he spoke and so her eyes drifted to him and her glare all but vanished, she had no idea why she was so angry.

The brunette needed to leave she couldn't sit here and pretend anymore so she did something that came naturally to her now but had never once been used on Carlos since they met, Jane lied.

"…I just remembered that I promised Jay I'd help him steal something."

I wasn't the best lie, but her voice was steady, and Jane could pull it off as long as she could keep her actions in tune with her voice.

Carlos looks at her funny before smiling slightly, "Okay we'll come with you-"

"No, I can handle it you two-you three just chill out here and relax I'll see you later." Without waiting for a response, the girl left as quickly as she could without making it look like she was running from them, all the while Mal raised an eyebrow but said nothing as her adoptive sister all but rushed past her.

Mal went back to spraying the wall as if nothing was out of the normal with Jane's behavior.

As Jane left she heard Evie say, "Is Jane mad at me?" The voice who answered was Carlos, "What why would you think that?" Whatever was said after that she didn't hear because Jane took off running now that they couldn't see her.

She didn't get it! Why did Evie make her feel this way? She wasn't Mal who admittedly had come around a lot lately when it came to the other girl but that was a good thing the five of them together like this… but why did Carlos have to keep looking at Evie like that!?

Sure, she was the prettiest girl in the group but still… stupid Carlos.

-

Jane hadn't been to Ursula's Fish and Chips in a while what with all but being Mal's sister and Uma hating the girl so much, not without reason… but she didn't come here to bother Uma or even see Gil or mess with Harry about who owed who what.

No, she was there because Evie wasn't and as far as she knew never would step foot in there and for some reason everything the girl did recently made the girl want to set things on fire and as she didn't really want to light the girl on fire Jane choose instead to avoid her.

It had been a while since the blue-eyed girl had ran away from her problems but then besides Mal and Maleficent she didn't really have any and she was used to the latter and the first wasn't really a problem any longer.

Uma was glaring at her as she silently sulkily ate her soggy fries, but she was left alone well until one annoying pirate plopped himself down across from her and proceeded to steal a handful of fries from her plate.

"Now that's not like ye' lass." He spoke around a mouthful of fries, "Normally ye' guard ye'r food better." Jane glares, "I'm not hungry." He looks thoughtful, "Trying to avoid something… or someone?"

"What are you going on about?" Jane was surprised by how he was able to guess so easily she knew her just sitting there didn't give that away, "Saw ye' glaring at a certain blue-haired princess just the other day and the week before that… and even once more though I do not recall when it was."

"…What are you talking about?"

He just grins, "What am I talking about?" Without another word he grabs another fry and leaves, her eyes follow him as he joins Uma and then they both leave together but not without one last glare from the pirate-girl.

"…He doesn't know what he's talking about." Jane says aloud to no one before pushing her plate away and leaving as well.

She needed to do something productive like blow up something but just as she's thinking about it her gaze lands on Gil, he's alone and another thought crosses her mind, so she approaches him, "Gil," He looks up as his name is called, "Oh hi Jane!" He smiles.

"Teach me how to sword fight." It wasn't a request but then again, he was used to Uma's way of speaking to him, so it didn't bother him, "Okay." He wasn't one to ask questions either so that helped because she didn't know what she would answer if he had asked her why she wanted to learn.

And that was how she started getting sword lessons from Gil, it wasn't as easy as the swimming lessons with him had been, but it helped her let out some frustration and who knew maybe she'd have a use for it at some point.

-

Mal walked into their room two weeks later and instantly Jane's attention was on her clothes, her new clothes that were most definitely Evie's design and for some reason that upset her, but it was stupid even she was wearing the clothes Evie had made but if Mal was wearing them then did she finally except Evie completely?

"You're wearing Evie's design…" The girl walks up to her bed and flops down, "Yeah, so?"

"So, I thought you hated Evie?"

"And I thought you liked her?"

"…I don't dislike her…" Didn't she though? Was she lying to Mal? Jane wasn't sure.

Mal makes an 'hmm' noise and closes her eyes and that's how the conversation ends much to the younger girl's frustration.

-

Over the last three months, Evie had found her place in the group and everything was great except for the fact that Jane now seemed to hate her and at first the blue-haired girl could not fathom the reason.

But now Evie understood or at least she thought she did and the bluenette was going to make it right, so the girl approached Jane for the first time by herself as up until this point she'd been alone with each of her friends except for Jane but now was the time to have a heart to heart with the other girl before things got messier and misunderstandings happened.

"Jane, can I talk to you?"

The girl in question wanted to say 'no' but besides being mean she didn't have a reason not to talk to her and being mean wasn't an option unless she wanted Carlos to be mad at her, so she just shrugged and followed her to Mal's hideout, once inside Jane couldn't take the silence between them anymore.

"What did you wanna talk about?"

Evie sat down on the couch, but Jane remained standing hoping that this would be quick.

"I know why you're angry with me and I want to tell you right now that I'm not trying to come in between you and Mal."

Jane blinks, "Huh?" Evie pats the couch seat beside her, but Jane stays where she is waiting for more because right now the younger girl is lost, Evie sighs at being declined but starts speaking again, "That beaded bracelet Mal gave it to you right?"

Jane's eyes widen, "How did you know that?"

"Mal told me."

"…Do you and Mal tell each other a lot of things?" Jane honestly didn't know how to feel about that, on the one hand, it was a good thing them getting along on the other at the moment Evie wasn't Jane's favorite person so her and Mal being buddy, buddy didn't sit well.

But if she hangs out with Mal more often then maybe Carlos will have less time to fawn over Jane's mind supplies helpfully.

"Some things yes but Jane I'm not trying to take your place or take her from you, I couldn't even if I wanted to. You mean so much to Mal even I can tell that you two are like sisters. I just want to be Mal's friend and yours too if you'd let me."

"…"

Jane was speechless, but it was not only because of how wrong Evie was in her assumption of what was bothering her, or about how obvious Mal's feelings were to the other girl, or even that she herself was glad to hear about how much Mal cared for her. Then there's the fact that Evie herself still wanted her as a friend despite her less than nice attitude and the glares thrown her way recently.

It was all so much information in such a short frame of time but the most stunning was the fact that Jane finally understood why she was so angry with Evie no not angry she was jealous, plain and simple, how had she missed it?

It was so obvious now.

But it wasn't because of Mal.

It was Carlos… Jane was jealous of how much attention Carlos was giving to Evie, she was jealous because the half-fairy could tell he had a crush on the pretty girl in front of her.

And that bothered her because she had a crush on Carlos.

And she only now just realized it because the girl in front of her said she wasn't trying to 'take Mal from her' and instantly her mind went to how she was taking Carlos from her instead.

This isn't good.

Jane didn't want to have a crush on Carlos or on anyone… she didn't know how to handle it.

The bluenette sitting on the couch was watching the girl's emotions play over her face even though she couldn't decipher most of them she hoped that her words reached her and that they could move past this and be friends.

Her sky-blue eyes find Evie's darker ones and Jane decided then that she will do what she does best she'll lie and pretend and then one day it'll be real just like she's done since the beginning.

Lie about how she's feeling and pretend until that's how things really are… it has worked for the most part. Funnily enough one of the last times she thought about doing something like this she was also staring at the princess before her.

That wasn't Evie's fault though no it's just the way things were.

Jane smiles falsely, "You're right Evie… I didn't even realize that I was-that I am jealous of your relationship of how close you are to… Mal." This wasn't as easy as she thought but it would get easier the girl was a great liar when there was a need for it. She had to be… she had been lying to Maleficent for months now.

"Now that I understand I'm sure I can work through it… I want to be friends with you too after all."

The other girl jumps up from the couch with a bright smile on her pretty face and Jane kind of wants to smack her for it but reframes. The half-fairy wanted to be her friend…

Evie hugs her and Jane tenses before she forces herself to relax.

Jane didn't like hugs they were foreign, but the princess was more touchy-feely than the rest of them so she'd get used to it because… she wanted to be her friend.

Jane just kept repeating that to herself and hoped it would make it true one day.

-

It was easy enough to start involving herself with Mal and Evie's girl time together, but she still struggled to hang around the bluenette and Carlos at the same time. No longer did she glare at the girl but Carlos looking at her with hearts in his eyes was hard, but no one seemed to notice this…

That was fine though because time passed and eventually Jane got used to Carlos' crush and so was able to be herself again and push aside her feelings, it wasn't like she would ever have to witness Evie and Carlos together because Jane had long since learned that people didn't date on the Isle.

People didn't love on the Isle… and Jane was on the Isle, so she wouldn't either.

Jane was alone at the hideout one day reading when she heard someone coming and looked up from her book, "Carlos?" It was surprising as he wasn't one to show up at Mal's hideout by himself usually he'd have Jay or Evie with him.

"Oh… hey Jane." He looks away from her and instantly she can tell that something is bugging him, so she closes her book and sets it down beside her before getting up from the couch and joining him in his usual spot on the floor near all his unfinished gadgets.

"What is it?" He shakes his head and her eyes start to scan him, "Are you hurt?" He fiddles with his device but doesn't seem all that focused on it, "No… nothing like that." Jane nods and decides that he must not wanna talk about it and as someone who doesn't like to be pushed herself she gets up and heads back to the couch and her book.

Once there she tries her best to get back into her tome but it's hopeless and she finds her eyes constantly drifting to Carlos who is not fixated like he normally is when she sees him working on his gadgets. Jane bites her bottom lip and forces her eyes away and back to the book for all of two seconds before she's looking at him again.

This was hopeless the girl thinks and just as she starts to debate if she should leave or not so that she can have some peace of mind the boy speaks, "…Have you noticed Evie's been different lately?"

Of course, this is about Evie she thinks sullenly.

No, I haven't no one pays as much attention to her as you she wants to say but instead says, "No nothing out of the ordinary, why?"

"She… she's flirting a lot more isn't she?"

Jane puts down her book and thinks of the best way to answer this, on the one hand, Evie's a very pretty girl and both Jane and Mal agreed why not use flirting as a tool to get what you want especially when it comes easier to Evie than stealing does.

On the other hand, Carlos who has a crush on her wouldn't get that logic… or be happy that both Mal and Jane encouraged it, Jane didn't care either way, but she'd rather have her flirting and not noticing Carlos than not flirting and noticing… so that's why she told the girl to go for it if she wanted to.

"Well… she gets free things when she flirts." Jane decides that should be a safe thing to say, "Yeah I know but she could get those things without it too…"

"…Maybe but you have to admit it's easier this way." He turns to her and suddenly she feels like she needs to say something else because she doesn't like how hurt he looks, "Even Jay does it from time to time so it's not a big deal and it doesn't mean anything…"

Don't encourage his crush Jane screams mentally at herself.

"You're right… I've seen Jay do it too… what about you?" He's staring at her now and she just stares back confused, "What about me?" Carlos takes a moment to gather his courage and asks, "Do you flirt with people to get free stuff too?"

Jane doesn't respond for a moment as the question fully sinks in and then she laughs which doesn't make the boy sitting across the room happy and upon noticing she stops herself but only just, "No, no of course not, don't be silly."

"I'm not…" He was pouting now, it was cute… she forced that thought away and rolled her eyes, "You have to be pretty to have the flirting thing work and I'm not Evie or even Mal for that matter." Not that Mal would ever try her hand at flirting… it might be amusing to see her attempt it though.

Carlos frowns and looks to be thinking about what she said before coming to a conclusion, "No your Jane but that's why I asked because you're just a pretty as Mal or Evie."

Jane's eyes grow wide and Carlos who realized what he said suddenly looks embarrassed before turning back to his gadgets and away from her.

She's glad that he's looking away because Jane's sure she's turning red, quickly brunette shakes it off by telling herself he's just being nice… because that's Carlos he's nice and sweet and figured he needed to tell her that she was pretty too, but the girl isn't under any sort of illusion about it. She's only ordinary looking… not ugly and not pretty besides Carlos has seen her back and though not self-conscious about it she's aware of it.

Just like he's aware of her scars, and scars are ugly no way around it… that was probably enough to make him feel like he has to stretch the truth to make her feel better. Jane sighs before getting back to the topic at hand, "Well I don't and Mal doesn't either we're just better at stealing than flirting… Evie is still figuring out what she's capable of I mean we had years of practice on her so maybe she'll eventually flirt less once she catches her stride."

But Jane doubted it not because she didn't think the other girl incapable of getting better at stealing but because the older teen seemed more in her element flirting than stealing.

Carlos mutters, "Yeah… maybe."

Jane felt like kicking herself, "Look if it bothers you just don't pay attention or ask her to stop that's really all you can do."

Not wanting to talk about this anymore she doesn't wait for him to reply instead she grabs her book and leaves.

Maybe if Evie keeps flirting Carlos will eventually stop crushing on her or maybe he'll say something like Jane suggested… if that happens then surely Evie will figure it out despite her dumb blonde act she's not actually dumb or blonde for that matter…

If Evie finds out what will she do?

Jane grips her book tightly to her chest and tells herself it doesn't matter.

Evie is her friend… no, she's not… but she wants her to be… no, she doesn't.

She's still jealous and Jane hates it.

But if they do become a couple and it makes Carlos happy then that's what matters right?

She could convince herself of that surely.

But she really, really hoped she wouldn't have to.

-

The year was nearly over, and the weather was getting colder when, yet another change occurred in the form of a meeting between Maleficent, Cruella, Jafar and the Evil Queen.

Evie was the one who found out and told her friends because it wasn't the first meeting, "What do you think they're talking about?" The blunette asked.

"I don't think they're talking it's more likely that they're plotting something," Mal tells them while looking deep in thought.

"Maybe we can eavesdrop?" Jay suggested but the purple haired girl shook her head, "No… to dangerous." Jane tells him, and her adoptive sister agrees, "So what do you know a spell you can use?"

"Unfortunately, not… I never thought about learning one." Jane tells the boy and Carlos chimes in, "But there is a spell for it in one of your books right?" The brunette nods before looking at the duel-haired pre-teen with slight suspicion, "Wait how did you know that?" He laughs nervously, "Well… you leave your books around the hideout so…"

Mal rolls her eyes, "You can't use it so why read it?" He shrugs, "I was curious." Evie cuts in then, "Well do one of you two remember what the spell was? An incantation or something?"

Since it was an unfamiliar spell Jane would have to try it with the incantation, but she didn't remember it off of the top of her head. "Sorry I'd have to look for through the book…" Jay eyes Carlos, "Do you remember it?" The other boy shakes his head, "No I might have looked but I didn't memorize any spells."

"Now what they're meeting now and who knows when we'll get another chance!?" Jay tells them but Mal smirks, "Good thing I've kept up with my studies so well then huh?"

Jane blinks before realizing what the other girl is telling them, "You know the spell?"

"Yeah, I know a lot of spells probably can recite more than you can even."

The brunette does her best not to roll her eyes, "I'm sure you do so what is it?"

After the groups gets ready they gather outside of Maleficent's home, "Will it work from this far away?" Jay mutters, "Shh I'm trying to concentrate." It wasn't going to be easy to pull off even with the incantation that Mal gave her, but Jane does her best to picture the villains as she performs the spell aloud rather than in her mind, it helps for new spells.

At first, nothing happens, and Jay starts to speak before Mal elbows him in the gut, "Quiet."

Eventually, after the third try, something occurs and she hears them! Her eyes shoot open since they feel closed while she was concentrating, "I can hear them!" Mal looks put out, "But we can't! What are they saying?"

With that, the brunette closes her eyes again and focus on their words and not just their voices.

The other four look on silently for a few minutes and final Jane's eyes open, "…Sorry, they finished their meeting before we got here… they'll be coming out soon, so we should go before we get caught."

The others groan but agree and head to the hideout.

During the walk, Jane rubs her temples but stays silent as the others talk about what could possibly be going on with their parents. Carlos notices the youngest girl's silence and glances at her, it looks like she has a headache.

But that's not all… she seems troubled?

Carlos suddenly wonders if maybe she did hear something… did she lie?

He watches her from the corner of his eye the rest of the way to the hideout but doesn't voice his suspicions.

When they get there they all talk about their theories after double checking that Jane didn't get anything useful but eventually agree that there's no way to really know.

Jane doesn't add to their theories and Carlos doubt about her telling them the truth grow but he still keeps quiet on the matter because if she doesn't want to tell them there has to be a good reason for it.

"So, we all agree that we'll try listening to find out when their next meeting is?" Mal asks and all the others nod, "And Jane you'll practice the eavesdropping spell, so it'll work faster and better next time." Jane looks up from the floor at them and agrees.

Only Carlos is watching her face for falsities but doesn't find anything definite, but he can't shake the feeling, so he continues to observe her for the rest of the conversation.

"We agree that whatever our parents are planning might not be a good thing us or that it might be better to know in advance if only to finally be of use to them."

Because as much as they fear or dislike or even distrust their parents none of them want to be blindsided and all of them want some form of recognition from their parents.

All of them except Jane… she doesn't want their recognition, praise, or love… she wants nothing from them. Mostly she doesn't want to be useful to them, but it was better to keep that part quiet even if the others probably already know this.

"So next time we will figure out what they're planning." It was a statement but Mal was looking for anyone who disagreed with her, none of them did out loud.

Mal watched the four of them, her group, her friends and spoke once more, "Because we're Rotten."

The four looked at one another and as if of one mind nodded and replied, "To the Core."


End file.
